The Ocean's Calling
by PeggyandthePenguins
Summary: He was just supposed to be a one-night stand, never to be seen again. Instead, his straw hat wearing captain— soon to be hers— just had to come along to give her the world and so much more. Conflicted between her heart and her duties, she turned to her beloved ocean and it responded. Zoro x OC
1. The Ocean's Meeting

Shells Town was doomed. Doomed from the ever-corrupted Captain Morgan and his stupid ass son, whose name Seraphina couldn't even bother to remember. She had been here for a bit over a year, more than she planned, and maybe a bit too long given how the corruption had gotten even worse. Her land lord had risen the rent to cover Morgan's taxes. Even if she liked to keep her home minimal for convenience of traveling, Seraphina only had one job and would need to get another soon to support the growing rent; that or move on to the next village. She probably should, she did promise her mother to travel the world then return to her duties when she was satisfied.

The light blue haired woman wiped down the restaurant table as thought back to how she came here. She chose this Sea, the East Blue, because she heard it was the mildest of the Blues. Not many pirates, not much commotion. Good. But then here she was, paying taxes to a corrupted Marine official. Maybe should go to that Baratie place that was still hiring, she had heard that it paid well. Hm, then again, it was on the sea. Damn, why does she even stay here?

"PHINA-CHAN!" a high-pitched voice called over the restaurant noise. A small brunette poked her head from out of the kitchen and immediately Seraphina's question was answered. She stayed for this cute little human. The young child bounced out from behind the curtains blocking the sight of the kitchen, her piggy tails moving up and down as the girl bounced. "Phina-chan! Order!"

"Alright, Rika-chan. I'm coming," Seraphina threw down her towel behind the bar as she finished wiping down the table. Snaking through the crowd, she made her way to the counter, picking up her dishes and served her tables. Returning to her real station, behind the bar, the bluenette cleaned up the just emptied spot of its mugs and snuck a quick glance at the clock- 10:28 at night. Oh thank god. Morgan's dumbass son won't come today.

Wood groaning under someone's weight had the bluenette turning back to her station. Instead of the once empty seat, there was now a green haired man, his three— three?— swords resting next to him, leaning on the bar counter. Huh, his hair reminded her of algae. Seraphina walked over, straightening her posture, her breasts lifting up as she did so. She wanted to get a closer look at the plant man. His gaze flicked over her, pausing for a moment on her breasts that were currently threatening to spill out of her corset, then finally coming up to meet her smirking lips and a raised brow. Oh yeah. She knew he was checking her out.

"Anything you'd like, swordsman?" the barista smirked, her gentle voice reaching the algae head's ears.

There were many things he would like, a few of which the barista could provide, but he settled on what would the most appropriate answer in this situation. "Just a mug of ale."

"Is that all?" Seraphina quickly scanned the swordsman. He was wearing a simple white shirt with a green belly warmer— how cute, it almost matches his hair— and a darker pair of pants, not to mention a dark green bandana tied around his arm. He had a look on his face that commanded attention, his aurora dominating everyone else's. But it was his eyes that mostly caught her attention, his eyes full of seriousness, a strong determination, and passion— ohhh….. how she liked his eyes. She set down a fresh mug of ale for him.

"For now," the man replied with a smirk, giving another glance over her tits.

Seraphina smiled and went back to her work, cleaning out some old mugs, although still sneaking small glances at the swordsman. All of which he noticed. "What's your name, swordsman? I don't want to call you that all night."

"Roronoa Zoro." He supplied with his own cocky smirk. Hmm, where did she hear that name before? Oh yeah! Now it makes sense! He was that new pirate hunter going around. He was quickly gaining his name. At least, in East Blue. "Yours?"

"Seraphina," the barista purred in her Grand Line accent, giving another look over the green haired man with her golden eyes. He was nice to look at. "Hmm… So what is a swordsman doing in this town?"

Zoro took in a deep breath. "I got lost."

Seraphina did a double take. A guy like that getting lost? "You're… lost?"

"Yes. I'm trying to get back to my village."

"Hmm," Seraphina stood flabbergasted. _You're fucking joking,_ she thought. Maybe she could help him get back home. "Where are you from?"

"Shimotsuki Village," Zoro breathed out, looking down at his mug. Seraphina did another double take. Shimotsuki Village was not that far away, just about on the other side of the island, but the island wasn't that big to begin with. Okay, maybe a few days walk, but nothing too intense. How the fuck did he get lost?

"That's on this island, just maybe a few days walk northeast of here," Seraphina supplied to the unbelievably lost swordsman in a gentle tone.

"Ah," another voice cutting into the conversation, a voice which belonged to the restaurant's owner, Ririka. "And what are you doing in here in this village? Not just here to flirt with our bartenders and get directions, I hope?"

"Ririka-san!" Seraphina exclaimed, turning to face the mother of Rika who was currently grinning a teasing grin at the two. A light blush could be seen on both the swordsman and the barista. "I wasn't flirting, I—"

"Tell that to all the other men I've seen you bring back to your home," Ririka playfully admonished, while Zoro raised his brow at this sentence.

"Ririka-san!"

Ririka laughed, heading back into the kitchen area, getting ready to clean up and shut down the kitchen. She called out over her shoulder, "You can leave earlier today!"

Ah, Seraphina had almost forgotten. She had told the owner that she was leaving soon. For real this time. She wanted to travel the world and traveling the world requires, well, traveling. Ririka had given her a little extra time to pack away her few belongings before she left tomorrow. Seraphina turned to Zoro who looked as if he was getting ready to leave— holy crap, he drunk his booze fast—, his coins resting on the countertop. This was when Seraphina made a decision that would unknowingly lead her on the greatest adventure she would ever lead in her life time; she was going to fuck the green haired man before she left this corrupted town. "I get off in half an hour if you want to wait."

Zoro paused, his hands just about to pick up his swords when he turned back to the bluenette with a smirk on his face. "I thought you'd never ask."

That's all she needed.

The rising swordsman returned to gathering up his swords, heading out the door to preferably to wait for her outside, lest he get lost. She shook her head. He's hopeless. Seraphina quickly cleaned her station, anxious to start her night with the sexy swordsman. Once finished with the last of her duties, she gathered her last belongings from behind the counter and left without saying goodbye to the owner and her daughter. She never really was very good at farewells. Heading out into sleeping village, the now former barista looked for the green haired man.

Bingo.

He was leaning against the building, arms crossed and face blank. The bluenette finally took notice of how tall he was, just about a head taller than her, enough for Zoro to be able to rest his chin on her head if he so wished. Zoro turned at the sight of her, another one of his soon to be famous smirks gliding across his face.

"Zoro," Seraphina purred, rolling the 'r' and straightening her posture to push her breasts out a bit more. "Why don't I lead you to my place?"

Zoro glanced down, then back up to her eyes with a grin on his face. "Lead the way."

And so she did with the plant man trailing just behind her, letting herself swish her hips a bit more to let her skirt sway with her steps. She hoped it was getting his attention. As she reached her apartment building, she struggled to unlock the door— she was awful with keys— and was reassured with a firm grip on her waist and a gentle bite on her ear lobe. His affections were met with a sharp intake of her breath. He was so forward.

"Sera," the man purred, "I'm getting impatient."

Seraphina snickered softly. He was going to be a fun one. "We're almost there. Patient is a virtue."

Zoro growled. Oh, how it sent shivers down her spine. The door swung open, showing her possession-bare apartment building to the wandering swordsman. The former barista led him, showing him to the bedroom after closing her apartment door. The walls were bare. Although truthfully, they had always been bare; she had never bothered to personalize her temporary living space. The only things that were there were her few bags leaning against the bedroom wall stuffed with her clothes, her jewelry, and the money she had worked for.

"Going somewhere?" Zoro nodded towards the bags with a raised eyebrow.

"Tomorrow."

He kept his eyebrow raised.

"Don't worry about it," the woman said, beginning to strip down. "Let's just focus on tonight."

Zoro nodded, furrowing his brow, thinking of something. "What are the rules? How do you want it?"

Oh. So straight forward. Seraphina looked up from her stripping, her corset already off and her skirt getting ready to go. She paused for a moment, thinking on what she really did want. Hm… what was she in the mood for? The woman looked over her partner for the night— unknowingly the rest of her life—, scanning his body for what would best suit him and her mood. She glided over to him, running her long nails down his shirt, gently tugging on the clothing. She leaned in close. "Rough."

That was all the swordsman needed. He pushed her down on the bed, tugging her skirt off, only slightly pausing when he realized she was just wearing a thong. She really did do this often. He continued from his small shock— he really should have expected that— to start working on her shirt. Unbuttoning the white blouse to reveal her bare, perky breasts, Zoro started nipping on her left breast, rolling her right nipple in his fingers. He was rewarded with her moan, a deep sultry moan, heat pooling in her lower regions. It was the kind of moans Zoro likes. Her fingers danced across his abdomen, reaching lower to pull off his shirt.

"You're far too dressed, Zoro," the barista pouted. And he was, he hadn't removed anything— except his swords, but that didn't count. "Come on, I wanna see those muscles of yours."

He complied, temporarily leaving her embrace to remove his clothing despite his wanting to touch her more. The young man, finally free from his clothing, moved back into his hostess's arms, quickly slipping his fingers deep inside her, prepping her for his member. Seraphina hissed, not expecting him to move so quickly. She said rough, and Zoro was going to give it to her. He looked over her face, making sure she was still okay. The feeling of his eyes over her body causing the bluenette to shiver under his gaze.

"Ready?" The swordsman questioned, still moving his fingers inside of her. This session was going to be a quick one. She didn't mind though, she needed to wake up early anyway and who knows what Zoro had to do.

She nodded, preparing herself for Zoro. It wasn't as if he was the biggest she had ever seen, he was a decent size, although a bit more girthy. No, it was his force, his thrusts, she was preparing herself for. She could tell in the way he moved, the way he talked, that he was a man of power, strength, force, and oh was she right.

The swordsman wrapped his arms around her thighs, spreading her legs for him to get better access to her heat. He wouldn't get to explore all of her body tonight, but if he ever met her again— which he would, but he didn't know that at the time— he would take his time with her. The woman who called herself Seraphina with that odd accent was a thing of beauty, that he knew, and someone had to acknowledge that fact and tonight it would be him.

Seraphina moaned her loudest as her partner thrust deep within her for the first time. She started praising the stars under which Zoro was born, thanking them for bringing the said man to her. Zoro started to speed up, his thrusts becoming ragged and random, varying in depth. His partner didn't mind. She just liked how he stretched her, spreading her wider than she had ever been, moaning and panting under his straining form as he pounded into her most sensitive spots.

She came first, quivering under his still thrusting form, moaning his name and scratching at his back like an animal. He followed her not shortly after her, grunting as he came. When he finished, the green haired man collapsed next to her, turning on his side so he could wrap his arms around her. Sitting up slightly, she pulled the covers over their naked forms, reveling in the after math of their sex, and turned off the lights.

It wasn't until she was drifting off on the gentle clouds that was sleep that she realized the lone swordsman never kissed her. Seraphina didn't mind though; he wouldn't be here in the morning and she would never see him again. She need to leave, to keep traveling, for the ocean was calling her name. And she must answer.

 **So, I actually don't know if I'm going to change this to a SanjixOcxZoro or just keep it ZoroxOC. Feed back would be appreciated.**


	2. The Ocean's Reunion

**So, this story might not be the best for people who just started One Piece. There will be multiple references to other people that show up _way_ later in the story, but I won't spoil anything. And I probably will keep this a ZoroxOC, cause I just don't know how I'll do a SanjixOCxZoro, so I thought that I'll just keep it a ZoroxOc. Other than that, I would really appreciate more reviews!**

Seraphina had gotten the job at the Baratie as a barista and the occasional musician, just as she wanted. She would stay no more than six months— for sure this time. She didn't want to make the mistake like she did last time with getting too attached to the people. Luckily for her, the only people working here were just men, no cute adorable children that could sucker her in for another month; that was how she had stayed so long in Shell Town.

To be honest, some of the workers were quiet annoying. Cough, Sanji, cough. Although he was growing on her. She recalls when she first met him, his eyes bulging with hearts— how was that possible?— and his immediate exclamation of his undying love for her. Okay…. That was fast. She stood there shocked, until Zeff explained to her that he did that to all the females. Since then, Seraphina had witnessed the said man ungraciously… flirt, I guess she could call it that, although it was more appreciation of the fairer sex. Either way, the new member of the Baratie was used to him.

The woman stood in front of her— temporary— bedroom mirror, the room quite lonesome and large, it was meant for more than one person, but she wouldn't be allowed to sleep with the men despite their—really just Sanij's— exclaims at Zeff's words. She buttoned up her black vest over her white-collar shirt, her typical blouse and corset hidden away in her still packed bags. Zeff wanted her to look classy and elegant, this was a fine diner after all. She tied her blue hair in a loose side ponytail, allowing the hair to rest over her shoulder with her side sweep bangs get in the way of her eyes. It wouldn't bother her. Finally ready for her day, the woman removed herself from her sleeping quarters.

She was manning the bar today. Which was fine by her, it was her forte: the best mixologist in the East Blue. Wiping down the counter, making sure she got every spot cleaned down, she had her pride as a mixologist on the line after all. The majority of the day went on as usual, spending the entirety actually mixing drinks— these costumers actually had "finer" tastes other than the usual ale or beer back at Shell Town. It wasn't until mid-day when her regular schedule took a turn.

CRASH!

Blue hair whipped around, looking for the commotion. That sound was too loud for it to be plates crashing on the floor— besides, Sanji would never waste food like that. No, that was something else. Pirates?

"SERA-SWAMA!" Sanji's voice rang out, his iconic blonde hair popping out from around the corner.

The said woman bit her bright red lipstick clad lip. She didn't want to deal with the chivalrous Sanji already, she could only take so much. "Yes, Sanji?"

"Are you alright?" His voice dropped a few levels, cigarette stuck between his lips.

"Yes," she smiled back. "Thank you for asking."

"AH! Sera-sama thanked me!"

She left the man to himself. Seraphina really was grateful even if it was just a habit of the ero-cook. Any woman would love to be looked after like how Sanji looks after any woman. The barista was going to take as much as she could get before she left. And she was going to leave after six months!

"Oh," the chef spoke. "We have another customer."

And so they did. A darker skinned man, with a silver haired beauty by his side, stood in the Baratie doors, his aura steaming arrogance. Seraphina didn't like those kinds of men. Oh well, he was a customer after all.

"I'll take care of them, Sera-sama."

"Thank you, Sanji," the barista smiled at the cook, returning to her pile of drink orders, shaking and stirring according to their recipes that were ingrained into her head.

"This wine is Iturutz Burger Stein! Am I right, waiter?"

Seraphina looked up from her concoction, only to find the rest of the restaurant observing the apparent Lieutenant with his silver haired partner. Poor marine, Sanji's probably messing with him. He likes to do that to the marines. Her suspicions were confirmed when Sanji slammed the bottle on the table and denied the marine's claims, and the barista went back to her work, only stopping when Sanji returned back to the bar to pick up the drinks.

"Sanji," the bluenette called out, "don't you think you are being a bit mean today?"

"Sera-sama," the chef's voice low with his cigarette hanging out in its classic way. "You know I don't like those kinds of men."

The bluenette laughed, light and airy, at the man's words. She merely handed him a small tray of dishes, all perfect as they should be, and took another tray of her own. It was just two of them waiting on tables, the others had all ran away after a few weeks ago— it was how she had gotten the job; Zeff was desperate.

"Waiter!"

Seraphina looked back at the Lieutenant's voice— it was always him wasn't it? She saw Sanji with him, so she ignored his call. Sanji would be able to handle the atrocious man.

SMASH!

Head wiping around, the woman spotted the table chopped in half, dishes shattered on the floor, and, most importantly, the soup spilt on the floor. Oh… Sanji will definitely not like that. The barista set down the tray on the bar counter, getting behind the bar to get to the spare towels meant for dropped plates, not shattered tables. How childish this man was being, it wasn't cute! Another sound echoed through the now silent restaurant, however this time it came with a sickening crunch. The woman, still behind the bar, looked up to see Sanji's hand plastered to the man's face, his blood leaking through his skin. Looks like the towels will be needed for another reason.

"Don't waste food."

Oh boy, she's going to have to get Zeff. Seraphina threw down her towels, making sure to set them on the counter top so they were easily accessible, and climbed up the steps all the way to the sleeping quarters. She knocked on Zeff's door. Only silence reached her, so the woman opened the door for a hole in the wall to greet her as the blue expanse gently rocked the ship. Another hole was seen on the floor, gapping wide. When the hell did this stuff happen? Seraphina carefully walked over to the hole, glancing down when she was confident she wouldn't fall down.

Zeff and another red mass were laying on the floor, clutching their heads. Did they… fall? Seraphina darted back down the steps, running into a scene with Patty slamming his fists on a grungy man's head, his seat splitting under him. Another one?! Where the hell are all these random people coming from? Oh, damn. Now the chair's broken. And who's going to sweep up the mess? Probably her.

"If you can't pay for food, you're not a customer," the dark-skinned chef exclaimed, earning him cheers from the crowd. Not from her though, she was too focused on Sanji's leaving form. Aww…. He was going to prep a meal for the starving pirate himself. She'll go help him.

"Would you like some help, Sanji?" Seraphina smiled again after reaching the second floor, watching Sanji prep his cooking station.

"Ah, I wouldn't dare let a lady do any more work than she needs to," the gentleman spoke, his voice still low. "Although it would help if you would prepare an energizing drink."

"Anything to help," the woman nodded, getting straight to work. This wouldn't be like her usual drinks, full of alcohol and sugary syrups. No, it would only include ingredients that would truly be helpful to the collapsed man. _Perhaps a vegetable juice would do?_ The bluenette tilted her head in thought. _Yes, yes it would._ Seraphina got to work copping and blending up various vegetables, the only sound in the kitchen being her blending and Sanji's simmering. Sticking a small celery in the juice to give the appearance of an umbrella on an alcoholic drink, the barista walked over to a tray and set the glass down next to Sanji's meal. Together they went out to the outside deck with Sanji setting down the tray in front of the food deprived man.

"It's on the house," the bluenette smiled her classic soft smile. The starving man looked up at his saviors, only backing away as he caught sight of the woman's golden eyes.

"NO!" Gin jolted and shouted at the female, confusion growing on her face. "No, not you again!"

"I'm sorry?"

The man did a double take; his breath quickened when he caught sight of her eyes again. Realizing that the golden eyes did not belong to the man who destroyed their ships, the man calmed down. "I'm sorry, but even when I'm dying, I won't take charity!"

Sigh. The bluenette leaned back against the guard rails, relieved that the man didn't attack her but wondering what caused his outburst. Sanji sat down next to her. This guy was going to be a tough— and odd— one.

"Just shut up and eat it," Sanji said as he blew out smoke. She let him talk on about the vast sea and loosing food in the middle of the ocean. She heard tidbits of his and Zeff's story throughout her stay— not everything, but enough to know that they struggled with a lack of food for a time. Whatever he said to the cook said got the man to start eating, his munching evident from the sounds of his slobbering.

"Hey, you! It's a good thing that he gave you food!"

Seraphina looked up towards the voice. The voice belonged to a dark-haired boy wearing a straw hat, a huge grin on his face. Aw…. He was kind of adorable. But where did she see that familiar hat?

"Ahahahaha. You almost died!" Seraphina sweatdropped. How was that something to laugh about? "Hey, cook! Join my crew!"

Uh… what? The boy jumped down, plopping himself next to Seraphina on the rails.

"Are you a pirate?" Seraphina asked, raising her brow as her mind drifted from the starving man's outburst at her eyes. He certainly didn't look like one.

"Yup!"

"Why did you shoot a cannon ball at us?" Sanji asked. Oh, so it was the boy who did that.

"Oh! It was an accident!" The boy smiled.

Seraphina smiled at the adorable captain— if he really was one. She left the three men to themselves, opting to start her work instead of waiting for the owner to start yelling at Sanji and her. Walking back into restaurant, the woman stopped in shock at the sight before her. It wasn't the huge hole in the ceiling that the straw-hat boy caused. No, it was green haired customer leaning in one of the chairs. She never thought he would be the type to eat in a place like this.

The bluenette spotted his classic three swords resting by his side and his bandana tied on his arm. Gathering a few menus, the barista walked over to his table, spotting another man in overalls and an orangette.

"Anything you'd like, swordsman?" Seraphina purred at the man, her accent strong in the way she spoke. The woman didn't notice the way the orange haired woman flinched as Sera set down the menus in front of his companions. Zoro sat up, straightening himself as he kept his eyes on her clothed backside as she leaned over in front of him. His companions gave him curious looks for their not well known friend.

"Do you know her, Zoro?" The orangette asked the teen, tilting her head while taking another look over the waitress.

"Uh... yeah…." He responded slowly, obviously not expecting the woman to be here. She smiled back at him, not expecting him to be here either.

"Oh!" The long-nosed man shouted out. "How do you two know each other?"

"We just kind of met in Shells Town," the woman gave another smile and turned back to the swordsman, again not noticing how the orangette flinched at her accent. "I didn't expect him to be here though. I thought you were going to go back to your village."

Zoro hid his face in his drink, not wanting to answer the woman's silent question by drinking his water. Seraphina took his silence as his answer. He got lost.

"Oh yes!" The short-haired woman spoke up, a fake smile on her face. She pointed to herself. "I'm Nami and this is Usopp."

"Ah, I'm Phina, I'll be your waitress for tonight."

"So, what are you doing here? Sera," the swordsman gruff voice spoke up from his water glass.

"I told you I was leaving Shells Town. I just got a better job," the woman reminded the clueless swordsman. "Oh, yes! What would you like for your meals?"

Together they ordered their meals, letting the barista go for a moment to relay their orders to the cooks. After, she manned the bar to finish off the overflow of drink orders. The bell rang, signaling for Seraphina to take the ready meals to their hungry owners. She complied to the bell, returning to the kitchen and picking up the trio's meals. Taking the tray, the barista carefully stepped down the stairs, still not used to this part of the job for the waiters had left a few days before and walked over to the trio.

"Yay!" Nami cheered, smiling widely as she spotted the bluenette. Seraphina smiled in return, setting down their meals on the table in front of them.

"Ooohhhhh, it looks so good," Usopp exclaimed, obviously happy. Even Zoro straightened himself again as he saw her.

"Hey, waiter!" Nami shouted, waving to something behind Seraphina. The bluenette turned, finding a straw hat wearing boy standing on the stairs.

"Hey!" The raven-haired boy swung down from the steps and landed next to the woman.

"Oh! Luffy! I heard that you've gotta work here for a year!" The long-nosed customer called out to the young boy.

"Can we redraw the pirate flag?"

"Hey! What's all this?" Luffy ignored the swordsman, focusing on the food in front of his friends. "Are you guys eating all this food without me!? Guys, that HURTS! How could you eat this without your captain?"

"Hey, you're the one who got himself in trouble for a year," Zoro replied, leaning the chair on two legs. Seraphina left their table, leaving themselves to their antics while she took care of Luffy's jobs. She spotted Sanji flirting with another woman, hearts in his eyes and cigarette in his mouth, all the while she shook her head at the lovesick cook. He's going to get himself taken advantage of one day.

CRASH

 _What the shit?_ Seraphina looked up. Yellow hair poked up from the ruins of a smashed table, the Straw Hat trio taking their food out of the way and onto their hands. Zeff was standing proudly before the mess. _God dammit, I'm going to be cleaning that up._

"How dare you hit your boss!" Zeff shouted at the downed cook.

"Sanji!" Sera shouted out in shock, unaware of what had happened between the two.

"I'm not going to leave! I'm going to be here until the day you go to hell!"

"Hmph," the older man huffed at the other blonde, "I won't die. I'll still be alive after a 100 years!"

Seraphina sweatdropped. He was a stubborn old man, she'll give him that. Sera grabbed a nearby towel, the same ones she had left on the counter earlier and knelt down to clean the water off of her co-worker.

"Ohh…" A familiar high voice sprang up near her. Luffy. "Isn't it great that he gave you his blessing!"

"NO!" Sanji barked at the straw hat wearing captain. Sanji stood up, brushing off the debris when he spotted the orangette. She already knew what was going to happen after that; his eyes would turn to hearts, his voice would get higher, and, most importantly, he would act like a gentleman. And it happened. Sanji went after the girl, a sneaky smile on her face. Oh, she definitely will take advantage of the lovesick cook.

Sera sighed, finished with the man, and turned back to the bar, feeling the stare of a green-haired man. She heard him say something along the lines of "do it yourself" to his long-nosed companion. The barista wanted to join in on their fun, she was a social creature after all, but she couldn't form attachments. At least not here, not when she had all _that_ back home. After three years of traveling alone, she did want companions, friends. It had been so lone since she had seen any of her family.

It was nearing closing time, almost every customer had left to go back to their boats, everyone except the Straw Hats who were currently laughing and having fun with their captain. Said boy was supposed to be working, but, to be honest, he would be doing more damage actually working than just having fun like how he is now. So she let him goof off as she did his share of the work. It wasn't much anyway, just basic stuff she had already been doing.

As she went along her job, she felt his eyes on her form. His simmering eyes that she knew she loved. She had almost forgotten what had happened that late night almost a month ago; his touching, his grunts, and her moans. He was one of her best past lover, although she couldn't remember the other men's names. It wouldn't matter, she would never meet them again.

However, she couldn't help sneaking glances back at the young swordsman. Hm…. Her father would have liked to meet him. Zoro's aura screams passion for his dream, sheer ambition. Her father liked men like that, the ones who did whatever they could to achieve their goal. She didn't know Zoro for long, but she could tell that he was that kind of man.

The tension built between them over the four days as they snuck glances at each other, building higher and higher like a mountain, going completely unaware to his crewmates and her co-workers. Oh, she wanted a two-night stand—and maybe a few more nights— and it was obvious he wanted one too, but the little scrutinizing glares sent her and Zoro's way from Zeff set her straight.

And his captain did not make it easier. It was a day when Zeff put her on the floor for the entertainment, so she was playing her harp, one of the only two instruments she knew how to play besides her own vocal cords. Quite honestly, it scared the shit out of her when the boy sprang out of the kitchen when she started playing. He sprang down the stairs, bouncing and smiling widely. When he wrapped his arms around her, his skin stretching to reach what he commanded, her eyes widened in shock and maybe even slight disgust. And when she saw his stretching skin wrap around her, the abnormal rubbery organ rubbing against her, she screamed bloody murder as she dropped her harp. She was used to weird shit, but she was not expecting it in a Blue Sea, much less East Blue.

"JOIN MY CREW!" The boy yelled in her ear with the woman in a whimpering mess in her aftershock, all the costumers' eyes on them. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Luffy!" The only female Straw Hat started admonishing her captain as she caught up to him and his stupid antics. "You can't just start asking anyone to join the crew! And look at her! She's in shock because of your stupid stretching!" Nami pulled on Luffy's stretching cheek.

"Hey! We need a musician on the crew and she's a musician! And Sanji's friend! Then he'll come to once she joins!" The captain argued, pouting at the orangette. His face got rounder as he pouted, his wide eyes getting wider and his pleading eyes started to get to her. Seraphina quivered inside when she saw his pout. _He's so adorable!_ The women in her family could never say no to anything adorable, and Luffy would come to learn that fact.

"Wha— w— why? We don't need a musician," Usopp said from behind Nami. Seraphina didn't realize when he had appeared.

"Yes we do!"

"Luffy, stop being selfish!" The captain's first mate appeared, his gruff voice coming from behind her. "Now get off of her before you have to do more time for harassing the barista."

"Hey! I'm not a fish!"

….

"What?" Zoro questioned, blinking slowly at his captain.

"No, Luffy," Nami groaned. " _Sel_ fish, not _shell_ fish."

"Well, whatever!" Luffy looked up at the barista. "Join my crew!"

"Luffy, I can't. You have to work here for a year anyway." The woman tried pleading with the boy, for she knew that if he didn't let up with his cute pout, she probably would agree to his demand.

"So wait!"

"Luffy, I can't do that either. I leave in five months." The bluenette could feel Zoro's stares at the back of her head when she said this.

"So?!"

"Lu—"

"Hey, get off of my Sera-swama!" A flurry of blonde yanked the raven-haired boy from Seraphina. The force knocked her off her feet, leading her into the arms of her one-night lover, his strong hands keeping her up.

"Hey, chore boy!" Zeff's voice carried over from the steps. She could feel the owner's stares on her already, especially since she was in Zoro's arms. "Get back to work!"

The young boy tensed, his hand reaching up to the top of his hat as he smiled sheepishly at the owner. "Coming!"

The boy sprang up with a sickening snap of his arms. Seraphina shivered as she ears were assaulted by the noise.

"You'll get used to it," Zoro spoke from behind her, finally setting her upright.

"What?" She snapped. What did he mean by that? Were the pirates just going to kidnap her?

"Cause he'll be working here for a year," Zoro raised his eyebrow at her.

"Oh. Yeah." She looked down at her dropped harp, and sighing softly, she bent down to gently pick it up. It was fine. Not damaged like she would have expected from the boy.

"The little girl misses you."

She stopped in tracks, his voice was so soft she doubts she even heard him speak. Still, she turns back to face him, completely ignoring what she was supposed to be doing here. "Rika?"

"Uh…. Yeah. I guess. I don't know the kid's name."

"Oh," was her only response. I mean, what was she supposed to say to that. She up and left the mother and her child. Seraphina turned back to her harp, gently testing the strings. Who knows what damage the poor instrument had gotten from that overwhelming boy? As the swordsman left her, she continued to what she had been playing before. Oh, Zeff was going to give it to her tonight.

Not even 10 minutes later, someone had jumped out of his seat, exclaiming something about Don Krieg. Where had she heard of that name before? Everyone rushed forward to where the man was standing, their perverse want overriding their primal fear to see the so-called King of the East Blue. Seraphina hesitantly stopped her playing to go see what they were all freaking out at. So, she picked herself up and stood next to the windows.

While the ship was big, and impressive for an East Blue ship, it was… really shabby. The sails were torn, almost as if a fierce wind had shredded the fabric to shreds. The hull was… well, she was impressed the ship was still sailing. But….

"Why was it so banged up?" The barista had whispered mostly to herself. No natural weather phenomenon in the East Blue could cause something like this to the scale it was at. Not even a human. Well, at least not in East Blue. Paradise, maybe but not in the beginning, definitely more towards Sabaody. The New World, definitely. But who in the New World would want to come down all the way to the beginning of the Grand Line? There's only one person who would do something like this to pirates in the Grand Line and she had an inkling of who it might be. She's seen it first hand after all. She gripped her harp tighter. Hawk-eyes.

A tall, lanky shadow appeared in the window. It looked… like it was struggling? What? He stepped in the doorway and her questions were answered. The man called Don Krieg looked like shit. And that was an understatement. He was large but his collapsing form and dark bags under his eyes just took the intimidation away.

"Please," the supposed captain's voice was weak. She barely even heard him. "Can you give me water and something to eat? I have money! Please, just give me food!'

"What's wrong with him? He doesn't look very dreadful to me," Seraphina heard a customer whisper.

And, well, he didn't have to put it simply. He even needed help from his first mate to keep himself up.

"Please!" Gin pleaded. "Please help my captain! He hasn't eaten for days!"

This only provoked more whispers from the customers.

"I won't do anything! Please!" Then the captain dropped into a dogeza bow. Her eyes widened at the display; she'd never seen someone do that.

"Please stop! Please don't beg!" Gin pleaded at his captain.

"Here, Gin. Give this to him." Sanji, calm and collected, set down a dish in front of the starving captain despite the protests of his fellow cooks. Don Krieg immediately shoved his face in the food, devouring the freshly cooked meal as if it was his first.

"Sanji!" There was a harsh whisper besides her. "Don't you know who that man is?"

Seraphina ignored the cook who whispered on Krieg's abilities and cheap tricks, instead opting to look at the young boy. He was staring at Sanji's back. What was he thinking? Don Krieg stood up, the woman straightening her back for what would come next. Her father taught her to always assume the worse, and she was certainly following that teaching.

Don Krieg slammed his arm down on Sanji, sending the blonde man flying. Sanji's co-waitress called out for him as Gin tried pleading with his unfaithful captain. Seraphina dropped down to Sanji, picking him off the floor and gently looking him over for injuries. Only softly smiling back at the bluenette, Sanji picked himself off the floor and patted her head while she was still down on the floor.

"Don't worry about me, Sera," Sanji smiled. He then turned back towards the kitchens while leaving a still shocked bluenette.

"Sanji?" She questioned.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to the kitchen. I gotta feed 100 men after all," he flashed another smile towards her.

"Sanji!" The straw hat boy exclaimed along with the other Baratie workers while Don Krieg only nodded. Not accepting Sanji's actions, the workers pulled out their own guns, pointing the offending weapons at their fellow cook. Sanji paused, then slowly, getting their message, he opened his arms wide.

"Do it," Sanji pressured. "I know he's an ass, but that's not my business. I don't care what happens after they had their meal. I'm just a chef. And when people are hungry, I give them food."

 _Holy shit. Wow._ Seraphina was stunned. So there were times he could be serious. The barista ignoring the other chefs around her, a few of who were trying to get their only female worker out of the sight of the offending pirate. The sight in front of her was astonishing; Patty had attacked Sanji with a swift punch to the head.

"Phina," a nearby cook whispered to her, mistaking her stillness for fear, "you should get out of here. We don't want you hurt."

She internally scoffed. They're so cute. They think that she couldn't handle herself. Her father would have never let her travel alone if she couldn't fight. Neither would her uncle, but he wouldn't have let his "little birdy" leave at all. The cook's pleads were forgotten when a bang rang out into the restaurant, leaving a shattered and blackened door in its place. Did Patty just… shoot Krieg... through the door?

"Shit, I think I broke the door," Patty said, patting the gun. _No, shit_ , thought Sera. "The boss will be pissed."

"It's okay," the cook beside her spoke up. "We're protecting the place."

"So, what are we gonna do about those people on Krieg's ship?" Everyone turned to Sanji, their thoughts returning to the forgotten pirates.

"Why don't we just butter it up and set fire to it?" Patty offered. Seraphina gave him a look, while Patty just shrugged.

"That sounds delicious!" Don Krieg was standing in the doorway again looking a little shabby but still intimidating. His armor stood out more now, the gleaming metal shining in the light of the sun. "Stupid cook. Giving me such an awful dessert. DESPICABLE!"

The cooks bolted forward, branding their chosen weapons at the frightful so-called King of the East Blue. In return, the pirate captain pulled out multiple guns and shot straight at the wave of cooks, shouting nonsense as he did. So unclassy. A strong hand pushed down behind a fallen table, shielding her from the stray bullets. Sanji.

"It can shoot?" The blonde whispered, mostly to himself.

"I'm the strongest man alive!" Don Krieg shouted to no one who really cared what he thought of himself.

Seraphina scoffed to herself. _I dare you to tell that to Whitebeard._ Poking her head from behind the table, despite Sanji's urges, she decided to quietly observe the dumb captain before putting him down.

"I've never lost a battle in my life!" Krieg kept shouting.

 _Well, obviously you did…._ Despite how badly Seraphina wanted to voice her observations, she bit her tongue. A gentle tap on her shoulder had the woman looking up from out of her temporary hiding space, only to find the restaurant owner slinging a bag of food over his shoulder.

"Stay down," Zeff whispered to her. When she huffed in reply, slightly insulted by everyone thinking she couldn't handle herself, he merely raised an eyebrow at her but continued on his original task. "Here's food for one hundred men."

"Owner Zeff!" The cooks shouted out, obviously shocked by Zeff's display.

Don Krieg's eyes widened at the name, his pupils narrowing and his brows furrowing. "Z-Zeff?"

"Go ahead, Gin. Take it," Zeff ordered the first mate, dropping the bag of food as he completely disregarding the protests from his workers.

"He'll take over the restaurant!"

"Only if they've got the guts," scoffed Zeff to his employees. "Isn't that right? Defeated warrior of the Grand Line?"

How pathetic, he couldn't even get through the first half _of_ the first half. Seraphina knew he was defeated close to the beginning, for if he was defeated further in, he wouldn't have made it out alive. Quite honestly, she was surprised he even made it out.

"You- You're Zeff the Red Leg!" Don Krieg shouted, his eyes widening and his pupils dilating. Seraphina squinted at him, not sure to what he was referencing. Obviously Zeff, but the cook might not have made it far enough into the Grand Line to make a lasting impact on the inhabitants of the dangerous sea. "So, you're alive? One of the greatest pirates in history!"

"And," the cook questioned, raising a brow at the pathetic pirate captain. "It's got nothing to do with you. As you can see, I'm living as a cook now." The old man gestured to himself standing proud in his chef's hat.

"That's a nice way of saying it," the false Don sneered, giving a mocking tone to his words. "From the look of things, it's not that you chose to be a cook, but it's the only thing you're able to do. You were an expert at fighting without your hands, but it looks as if you lost your precious leg of yours." Krieg gestured to the man's missing leg, the peg keeping him up as a constant reminder that the chef could no longer battle. Well, he probably could do battle in the Blue Seas but not the Grand Line and definitely not the in New World.

"I don't need to fight," Zeff replied coolly, keeping his voice level. "I don't need my foot to cook, as long as I have a pair of hands."

"Red-Foot Zeff, you're a man who once braved the waters of the Grand Line! You even returned!" Krieg's eyes sparked with greed as he rubbed his chin. "Captain's keep a log of their journeys, so you must have one! Give it to me!"

"Woah!" Seraphina turned to an excited chore boy. Luffy had stars in his eyes as he spoke to the owner of the restaurant. "So you've been to the Grand Line too!"

"Yes," Zeff sighed at his incapable chore boy. He then turned to the Don. "I have the journal, but I'm not going to give it to you. That journal isn't just mine, it's the pride of my entire crew. It's far too valuable for the like of you."

"Then I'll take it from you," Krieg growled, a big sneer forming on his face. Intimidation can get you places but not everywhere. "I couldn't get through the Grand Line, that's true. But it was only because I lacked information! I'll get that journal and then I'll be come the Pirate King!"

"Hey!" The raven-haired boy clenched his fists beside Seraphina; the woman dropping her jaw in shock. Luffy pointed towards Krieg, "I'm going to be the King of the Pirates!"

Don Krieg paused, a look of disbelief resting on his face as he tried to cope with the fact that the scrawny looking kid didn't fear him. "What did you say, _boy?_ I'll pretend that I didn't hear that."

"You don't have to," Luffy smiled, putting a hand on his hat, a habit that Seraphina would come to notice. "I'm just saying the truth."

Seraphina turned away from the pair and hid her smile under her hands, struggling to contain her laughter as Don Krieg snarled his words at Luffy. The boy only smiled and responded with a few words of his own.

"This isn't a game," Don Krieg snarled again.

"Of course, it isn't."

"It's not funny, you brat!" Krieg yelled at the boy, a statement the barista couldn't agree with. "It may just have been a lack of information, but even a fleet of 5000 men was defeated in seven days! What makes you think you can make it?!"

Seraphina couldn't help it; she started shaking as she tried to muffle her growing laughter at the Don's failure. She really shouldn't, if her father were here, he would be shaking his head and telling her to keep her cool. But a week? That was bad, even if she knew how violent and barbaric the Grand Line is. Unfortunately, her muffled laughter was mistaken for sobs. A nearby cook gently patted her on the back, feeling pity for the barista that he thought was crying in fear.

"Sev— seven days?" Someone whispered. "What happened to them?"

"Shall I kill you right now?" Krieg growled.

 _Is that all he can do?_ Seraphina thought.

"If you think you're up to it," Luffy deadpanned in a plain voice, causing Seraphina to laugh harder with small noises slipping out of her hands.

"You starting a fight, Luffy?" A familiar voice spoke up. Zoro.

"Yeah, just sit and watch," Luffy responded to his first mate.

Don Krieg laughed when he saw Luffy's crew: just two men, one watching the quivering woman on the floor and the other with his shaking legs. "Is that it?!"

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, his brows narrowing in offense. "There are three more!"

"Don't count Seraphina and me in!" Sanji protested.

"I don't really care," Don Krieg snarled. "I'll take care of you guys later." Krieg picked up the almost forgotten bag of food, slinging it over his shoulder. "I need to feed my men." He gave a glance to the shaking woman. "For those who don't wish to die, you'd better not be here when I return. I only want the journal and this ship." He turned and walked out the door towards his ship.

Gin took this time to speak up, bowing down to Sanji. "I'm sorry. I never would've imagined things to turn out his way."

"There's no need for an apology," Zeff spoke up, casting a quick worried glance towards his only female employee, making a mental note to get her off the ship before Krieg comes back. "We feed anyone who comes along."

"Why are you siding with Sanji?!" The cook next to the barista shouted.

"Hey, this is his fault!"

"Shut up," Zeff snapped, hushing his cooks and quieting the barista. "You don't understand starving. Sanji knows." Sera settled down her silent laughter, stopping in respect to what Sanji had suffered through. "Now get out of here!"

Protests and shouts came from everyone, even a small objection coming from the bluenette and a lengthy speech from Sanji of which she ignored.

"Hey, Gin!" A high-pitched voice came over all the others, the owner of the voice tilting his head. "You said that you knew nothing about the Grand Line, right? But you have been there, haven't you?"

"We don't know anything," Gin admitted, collapsing on the floor, while Sera stood up having finally calmed down her laughter. "What happened at the Grand Line on the seventh day.… It was like a dream…. Just one man destroyed a whole fleet of 50 ships!"

Sera snapped her head towards the first mate, her eyes widening as she had a realization. That confirmed her previous theory. It was _him,_ a man she didn't want to see yet. And he never lets his prey leave from his clutches. He left the crew alone to play with them.

"It all happened so suddenly," the first mate continued, clutching his head as he recalled his short journey. "He showed up out of nowhere and started sinking our ships, one after the other." That does sound like Mihawk. He likes to hang around the beginning of Paradise to weed out the weak pirates, which was pretty much all of them to be honest. "If a storm hadn't come along, our maiden ship would've been destroyed too. I don't want to even think about what happened. That man— his stare pierces through you, like the eyes of a hawk!"

Zoro straightened when he heard the pirate's words, his hands clutching his swords tighter as his ultimate goal in life replayed through his head for the millionth time. Dracule Mihawk. The greatest swordsman alive. His movements not going unnoticed by the barista. "What did you say?!"

Zeff spoke up, wanting to inform his staff. "Hmm, that must be the man known as—"

"Dracule Mihawk," Seraphina whispered, her voice dropping out at the end. It had been so long since she had last seen him. "His eyes so golden and so striking, they can see right through you," she shivered, remembering his scrutinizing stare, while a different swordsman watched her.

Zeff narrowed his eyes at his employee, wondering when and where exactly she had met the infamous warlord and gotten away with it; even he hasn't met him. Regardless, he nodded his head in agreement, "It sounds like something he would do."

"Maybe he had some kind of grudge to settle with you guys," Sanji suggested ignoring the conversation that the Straw Hat captain and first mate were having. Gin shook his head no, while Sera shook her head in agreement the pirate.

"Maybe you guys disturbed his nap?" Zeff offered, a bit too involved in figuring out why Hawk-Eyes attacked.

Sera shrugged and started examining her nails out of her growing boredom now that Krieg wasn't here. "Maybe, but he might have also just been bored. He usually likes to go after new rookies in Paradise."

"Just what kind of place is that?" Usopp screamed at the barista with his shaking legs. Zeff merely narrowed his eyes even more at the woman, his suspicions growing.

"A place where anything happens," Zoro responded to the long-nosed man, his eyes squinting at the waitress. Usopp screamed again, his legs starting to shake as he begged his captain to not go to the Grand Line, his legs shaking even more as Luffy refused. "He'll definitely be there, right, Sera?"

Sera blinked at him but slowly nodded. "You're not seriously considering going after him, are you?"

"Are you morons?" Sanji spoke up, lighting a cigarette. Sera lightly smacked him on his chest, earning her a shrug from the blonde. "You must be so eager to die."

"Yeah," the swordsman admitted. "But it's none of your business. When I decide to become the greatest swordsman in the world, I threw away the rest of my life. I'm the only one who can say that I'm an idiot."

 _Wow, what dedication,_ thought Sera. She hadn't seen anything like that in a while; most of the people were already in the Grand Line, not sitting around waiting in a calm Blue.

"Hey, guys!" Patty shouted in her delicate ears. "You guys do realize Krieg is going to come back, right?"

"Hey! I can hear them come!" The cooks scrambled around gathering their weapons and moving debris out of the way as to not cause causalities to their own people, Luffy's crew and the blonde cooks standing still. Someone tugged on her sleeve. "Phina, you gotta get outta here."

"Why? I can fight fine," Sera turned to the cook. She raised an eyebrow at the man, giving him a quizzical look as he tried ushering her out. He opened his mouth in response, only to be shut up by the chanting of the now fed pirates of Krieg's, their shouts rough against her ears. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, they're so loud."

Zoro shot her a look, of which Sera ignored. Suddenly, the galleon in front of the ship split in half, the pieces scattering in perfect cuts into the ocean blue as the waves rocked the Baratie, a signature not written by words but by cuts from the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk. To both of their confusion, Zoro quickly reached over and grabbed the woman, steadying her against the stair railing so they wouldn't fall down as the ship settled down. His eyes widened in a realization.

"Shit," he hissed out. "Nami, Yosaku, and Johnny are still on our ship!" And with that, the man left her side as quickly as he joined her, running outside on the deck, understandably leaving her for his friends. Sera steadied herself with the bar counter; she was glad she had chosen to wear flats today. Although unprepared to see Mihawk again, she hesitantly joined her employer out on the deck to find what kind of damage Mihawk was going to do today.

"It's him," Zeff whispered when he caught sight of the swordsman's signature boat. Sera grinned, not going unnoticed by Zeff.

"Usopp, let's go!" Zoro shouted out, bringing himself and his crew members to Sera's attention. He was clutching his swords on his side, prepping the small ship to set sail.

"Luffy," Usopp asked to the younger male, "what about you?"

Luffy shook his head, gesturing to the Baratie. "I haven't fully repaid the restaurant yet, so I can't go." Seraphina must say, she was shocked by the kid's sense of responsibility— when he had it.

His first mate turned back to him. "Be careful. Things are getting crazy here."

"Yeah," the boy nodded, "I know."

"We're doomed!" An unknown pirate screamed. Seraphina chose this chance to return to her search of spotting Mihawk, joining Zeff at his side as he carefully watched her for anything to confirm his suspicions. His boat slowly drifted in from the currents, adding a ridiculous dramatic effect on his introduction. Sera rolled her eyes.

"Zoro," the straw-hat boy asked in his high voice, "who the heck is he?"

"That man…." Zoro started, "That man is the man I've been searching for, Hawk-Eyes Mihawk." That caught Sera's attention most of all. Why was he searching for someone so far out of his lead? To ask Mihawk to train him? He doesn't take pupils. There's no way Zoro wanted to battle him; he would get his ass kicked! "I never thought I'd be able to meet him so soon. Finally, the destined time has come."

"You bastard!" A nearby pirate shouted at Mihawk from the sliced ship. "Why did you attack us?"

"To kill time," the swordsman's fluid voice reached Sera's ears, causing the woman to throw back her head and laugh out at the man's words, drawing the eyes of everyone, including the legendary man's. All the laughter that had built inside her let out, coating the ocean in her ringing fits of laughter. Mihawk smiled, recognizing the laughter that was so like her mother's, relishing in the familiarity. Jaws dropped while equally shocked eyes widened. Most stared at the two with unbelievable fear, some who feared for the woman and others who feared the man with the legendary sword. "My little blue fish, it's been so long."

The woman's smile widened when she heard her familiar title, a title she hadn't heard in years. She sprinted across the defeated galleon, carefully stepping over the wood and pirates to get to the man who was currently smirking at her. Arms held out wide, Seraphina leapt out to wrap the man in her arms, the swordsman allowing himself this bit of physical contact in front of all the spectators only for the fact that he hasn't seen the bluenette in quiet some time. His strong arms snaked his way across the small of her back as she buried her face in his cape. Her eyes were sparking, reflecting the piercing gaze of the man's own eyes; the golden orbs being the one feature all the witnesses noticed the two shared.

"Papa!"

 **So, I know, this cliché is used a lot. The OC is Mihawk's daughter, but it's going to be kind of important to the plot line, so… yeah. Mihawk has a kid.**


	3. The Ocean's Decision

**This is my first time writing a battle scene, so I hope it turned out well. And I know my chapters are going to be long (15-20 pages in word with regular font and size) but I don't really want my story to be 500 chapters.**

"Papa!" Seraphina shouted out, unknowingly confirming Zeff's suspicions. Squeezing tighter around the warlord, the woman beamed at her father. "It's been so long!"

"Your mother told me you started your traveling, little fish," Mihawk raised his brow. His daughter nodded, loose strands of her blue hair bouncing with her nod. The father reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a small bag, handing it to the bluenette. "These are the gifts for your eighteenth birthday."

"Oh," she handled the gift carefully. "I had forgotten about that."

"The dark purple one is from your mother and me while the red one is from your uncle." Hawk-Eyes patted her head gently, making a soft _tch_ sound at his daughter's lack of memory. She grinned wider at him, if it was even possible with how happy she's been. The woman deposited the bag in the space between her plump breasts, gently patting the small bulge down. Mihawk raised his brow at his daughter's actions, quickly remembering that his daughter was now a woman, not the little girl visiting his island. A certain annoying captain popped into his head and oh how that man would not like to picture his "little birdy" as a grown woman now.

"So you _are_ the one causing all this mess?" Seraphina questioned the man with the piercing gaze. The said man only smirked in response. A bang rang out. Sera felt herself get pulled tighter to the taller man, something swiftly brushing across her face, Yoru.

"What the hell? I was sure I was right on target!" A pirate screamed out, his hands shaking. Seraphina cried out in annoyance, her father narrowing his eyes at the pirate. Who would dare fire at his daughter after all?

"He redirected it," a gruff voice reached Seraphina's ears, sending shivers down her spine of which her father noticed. Mihawk eyed the green-haired man out of the corner of his eye, carefully scanning the man. "I've never seen such graceful skill."

"A sword with power alone is not powerful," Mihawk replied.

His daughter tilted her head up towards her father, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "He's considered the greatest swordsman in the East Blue. I've seen him around."

Mihawk set his golden eyes on his daughter, wondering when, and what, exactly she had seen. He knew his daughter was trained with swords even if that wasn't her specialty; he had seen to that, but he did feel the familiarity between the two and, as a father, he wanted to know what was between them.

"So," Zoro continued, eyes flickering between the bluenette and her father, "this ship was cut apart with that sword too?"

"Of course."

"So you are the strongest!" Zoro clutched his swords. "I've been sailing the seas to face you."

Mihawk's eyes flicker down towards his daughter, sensing a fight coming up. "What's your mission?"

"To be the best!"

"How foolish," Mihawk smirked at the nineteen-year-old. He felt a light slap against his chest from his little fish.

"You've got time to spare, right?" Zoro pointed a sword towards the warlord. "Let's duel."

"Duel?" Mihawk questioned in a _slightly_ condescending as he crossed his arms. "Pitiful weakling. If you really were a fine swordsman, you should've been able to judge the difference in our strengths without drawing your sword. Challenging me? Are you that brave? Or stupid?"

"This is for my own ambition!" Zoro placed a sword in his mouth— ew— and readied himself for Mihawk's attack. "And for a promise to my fallen friend."

Mihawk gently pushed away his daughter, carefully whispering in her ear for her to leave. Giving a last quick hug, Sera jumped off the small boat onto the floating piece of the galleon, patting Zoro on the shoulder as she passed him. After making sure the woman reached the Baratie, the warlord returned his gaze to the young man in front of him, stepping down to the shattered planks. The sounds of a blade could be heard as it was pulled from its small sheath.

"Hey, what's with that?" Zoro questioned, taking the sign of the small blade as a mock to the younger man's skills.

"I'm not like those stupid brutes who go all out just to hunt a mere rabbit," Mihawk responded, taking his stance. "Though you're famous enough to be called a swordsman, this is the weakest of the four oceans. Unfortunately, I'm not carrying anything smaller than this." Mihawk gave a mocking frown.

"Quit mocking me!" Zoro shouted out, his hands gripping his swords tighter. "You better not regret it when I kill you!"

Seraphina hummed to herself on the Baratie, ignoring the stares of her co-workers, _he hasn't been in the Grand Line. He'll get eaten up with that attitude._

"You haven't experience the real world," Mihawk chided the younger man, voicing Sera's thoughts. Mihawk stood strong— as expected— when Zoro shot forward, his swords overlapping each other. With a flap of his cape, Mihawk stopped the other's advancement, the point of the kogatana stopping the three swords.

"Holy shit," Sera whispered. Her boss quickly glanced back at the woman, wondering what sparked her amazement. "Zoro was able to stop that?"

The green haired man was definitely a strong man. Zoro swung again, aiming to kill, only for her father to casually defend himself with the small blade. Zoro kept slashing; Mihawk waiting for the perfect opening while letting the adolescent wear himself down. The familiar sound of flesh being pierced reached her ears as Zoro's so called brothers shouted out, bright crimson running down his chin. Words heard only by the two of them were exchanged with the older man shouted something and pulled out Yoru.

"It's been a while since I've seen such strong will. For respect to another swordsman, I shall end this duel with the world's strongest sword," Mihawk shouted, letting everyone know. A dreadful feeling sunk in Sera's stomach. Zoro attacked again, although this time Mihawk shattered two of his three swords with the black blade. Zoro stood up from the ground, his arms held out wide, and faced his opponent. "Oh, what are you doing now?"

Zoro grinned. "A wound on one's back, is the shame of a swordsman."

"Well said." Sera could tell that Mihawk was pleased with the attitude of the defeated man.

The warlord raised Yoru, the black blade glistening in the sun, and swung down on Zoro's chest. As the spray of crimson drops splattered across the shattered ship planks, to the surprise of her father and herself, Seraphina found herself shouting out the man's name again— although for an entirely different reason this time. "Zoro!"

"Zoro," Luffy shouted out as Zoro fell into the depths, crimson slowly spreading out. The captain cursed, stretching out to attack Mihawk. Instead, the warlord moved to the side, letting the bouncing boy hit the planks with a crash. "You bastard!"

"Luffy!" Seraphina reached out for the boy to grasp air instead.

Mihawk moved out of the way of the projectile boy, letting him face plant into wood planks. "So you're the young swordsman's comrade?" Luffy pulled his head out, yanking out other pieces of wood. "Rest assured, that man's still alive."

Yosaku and Johnny were pulling a bloody Zoro out of the water, pleading for him to respond to their calls. Together they pulled him onto the boat into the care of Usopp. They're really going to have to get a doctor. Luffy shouted for his first mate.

"It's too early for you to die!" Mihawk shouted at the older Straw Hat, shocking his daughter. He's never done anything like this before. "My name is Dracule Mihawk! Know yourself, know your world, become stronger! No matter how long it will take, I will wait for you in my strongest form! Surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!"

"For Hawk-Eyes Mihawk to declare such words…." Zeff trailed off.

"He's never done anything like that," Sera confirmed, watching the said man exchange words with the Straw Hat boy. "He must have really impressed Papa."

"Zoro!" Luffy called out to his first mate again.

He was met with a raised sword. _Damn it, Zoro. You shouldn't do that,_ Seraphina thought, tensing when Zoro moved when he shouldn't. "Luffy, can you hear me?"

"Yeah!"

"Sorry for worrying you!" Zoro choked out, his only good sword shaking slightly. "If I don't become the greatest swordsman in the world, you'd be in a dilemma now, right?"

"Stop talking," Johnny tried to stop Zoro to no avail.

"I will—" Zoro spat up blood, the sound of sobs coming out, "I will never lose again! Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I'll never be defeated anymore! Any problems with that, King of the Pirates?"

"None!" Luffy grinned.

Mihawk grinned at the men's— boys' really— words. "You two make a good team. I hope we meet again."

The warlord turned back to his boat, ready to leave the East Blue and tell Shanks the whereabouts of the little fish, until the all but forgotten Don Krieg stopped him. "Hold on there, Hawk Eyes! Didn't you come for my head?"

"That was my initial intention, yes. But I've had more than enough fun. I'm headed back to sleep." The man's boredom was quite quelled today. He just wanted to find his lover, the little fish's mother, and give her a lovely evening that the both of them would enjoy; unfortunately for the both of them, they hadn't seen each other in months.

"It may have been fun for you, but I haven't done my bit yet!" Krieg pulled out the guns in his armor, firing onto the amused warlord. With a slash of Yoru, Mihawk mixed the air with dust, hiding his getaway so he wouldn't have to deal with the annoying coach roaches. With a sneer, Don Krieg turned back to his men. "Let's go get that ship!"

"They wanna fight too!" Luffy had used his rubber powers to stretch his way back to the ship, still causing the woman to get shivers over the sickening sound. "This is SO exciting! Hey old man!"

Zeff let himself look at the chore boy, raising his brow when he noticed how the rubber boy was looking at Seraphina.

"Let's make a deal! If I kick 'em out, Phina and I won't need to work here anymore, ok?"

Seraphina scoffed, thinking that there was no way Zeff would let his best— altough only— barista and waitress go. However, Zeff thought differently. He sure as hell didn't want Luffy around anymore. There wouldn't be a restaurant left if Luffy kept up his "work." And, well, as much as he liked Seraphina, he didn't really want a warlord's daughter running around his restaurant. The mysteries of her eyes were solved, but the jewelry of hers that he saw earlier…. Where did he see those emblems before?

"Yeah," Zeff nodded. "If I really let you work here for a year, this restaurant would cease to exist."

Luffy nodded but he still wasn't going to be happy until it was confirmed his— yes, his— musician would be coming with him. He opened his mouth. "An—"

"And Sera can go with you," Zeff interrupted, already knowing what the kid wanted.

Sera nodded to Zeff's words; she had already known that Zeff wouldn't let his waitress— "Wait, what?"

"Great! I'll be the King of the Pirates!" The Straw Hat captain shouted out, interrupting Sera who was currently glaring daggers at the restaurant owner.

 _They would never last the Grand Line,_ the bluenette thought, not knowing how wrong she would be.

"Are you serious about that?" Zeff ignored her glares.

"Yeah, of course!" Luffy nodded and beamed. "I will be the King of the Pirates! But don't you want to?"

"I've forgotten the past," Zeff shook his head; the girl's glares becoming questioning looks while Sanji ordered around the other cooks. "Right now, I'm the Head Chef of this restaurant. This is enough."

Shouts came from the other side of the ship wreck. Sera rolled her eyes. The Straw Hat captain grinned into a wide smile. "Let's get things started!"

Luffy stretched his arms on the banister. "Gomu gomu no Rocket!" Luffy sprang into the air and brought down his stretched leg onto the remaining ship, effectively shattering the half.

"What— what the hell is he?!" Sanji shouted, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"In the Grand Line, there are many of these kinds of people Sanji," Zeff informed his surrogate son, fully planning on letting the chef go with Luffy. "Watch carefully how he fights. Watch him until the battle finishes."

There was a shake under the Baratie, creaking and the waves were pushed aside by wooden planks. The Baratie's fins opened up, picking up debris along the way.

"Now we can fight to our hearts content," Sanji said while Don Krieg started eying the ship with even more greed. An undistinguishable shout came from the far side of the Baratie, a smaller ship paddling itself towards the Don. The boat moved, turning to show off its weapons in the mouth of the fish looking ship. The ship sped towards Don Krieg. The Don merely help out his armored hand, stopping the ship in its tracking and flinging it towards the chefs. Sanji jumped up, swinging his leg around and shattering the fish ship into splinters. Sera nodded, slightly impressed by the chef's skills. He definitely picked up some stuff with Zeff. Cigarette still in his mouth, Sanji straightened his suit jacket. "Understand, Krieg? Every day preparing meals is like a battle."

"Yeah!" The cooks shouted, waving their weapons in the air. "Let's fight! Protect the restaurant!"

Sera smiled. They were a fun group. There was a slight disturbance in the water, catching her attention. It wasn't right. She spent her entire life on the water and in the water— hell, she was born on the water; she knows when the currents aren't right. But what was it?

"What is that?" A random chef shouted. A tall man climbed onto the deck from the crystal blue, waving around his ridiculous… shields? Whatever it was, it looked stupid.

"It is I, Pearl-san!" The stupid looking man shouted out.

"No one cares," whispered Sera.

The pearl scanned the deck for opponents and he found one, one that looked like he would give the best fight, skipping over the bluenette. Unfortunately, it was Patty. Pearl attacked Patty, slamming him down with the pearl shield while the other cooks screamed in protest.

"Patty!" Sera shouted, dropping down to the fallen Patty. "Are you okay?"

"How could he be okay?" Pearl laughed, banging the stupid shields together. "He was defeated by my killing punch!"

Sanji slammed his foot into a pirate that was attempting to sneak up upon Sera and Patty. The bluenette turned her back on Pearl, nodding in appreciation to the chef.

Pearl scoffed at the chef's attacks. "Are you so arrogant that you only kick them?"

"A cook's hands are his life," Sanji responded to the shock of Sera. She wouldn't have even bothered to respond to the obnoxious man. "He cannot injure them in battle. So, I'll finish you with my feet instead."

"Finish me? Impossible," Pearl laughed, unknowingly setting up a challenge for the bluenette; she loved proving people wrong. "In my last sixty-one battles, I have won them all completely unharmed! I have never even spilled a single drop of blood in a battle. Not a single drop! Even the Marine's cannon can't hurt me!"

Sanji moved to swing his leg, only to be stopped by a well-manicured hand. "Sera-swama?"

"I got this, Sanji-kun," Sera purred to the chef, sending him into a weird, arm-wiggling state. She won't get used to that. Facing Pearl, Sera stood up preparing herself with haki, letting the mysterious force engulf her both her hands.

"Oh, what is that?" Pearl questioned, eyeing her blackened fists. "No matter! I'll still be undefeated!"

Sera dropped into her habitual stance; the years of training with Mihawk and her mother kicking in with no hesitance. Pearl moved fast— slowly for her— and brought his shield down. She opened her palms, catching the offending object in her left hand as Pearl pushed down. Swinging up into his body armor, the woman's black fist landed in the center of his stupid armor— it had weak spots everywhere— and effectively shattered it. Sera covered her eyes as the fragments fell down. Just as quickly as she shattered the armor, she slashed the man's now open abdomen with her sharp nails, a crimson spray mimicking Mihawk's slash. Sera let the man fall back in his shock, falling deep into the depths of the ocean.

"Aahhhh," a voice shouted out. Sera looked up from her art and spotted a flying mass of red and blue coming at her. Opening her arms out, Luffy landed in her arms bridal style and blinked up at her confused expression. Luffy gave her his signature grin. "Ah! Thanks, Phinie!"

"Phinie?" Sera whispered, mostly to herself. No one has ever called her that.

"Boy, that scared me. Good thing I didn't fall into the sea." Sera gently let him down out of her arms. The Straw Hat captain brushed himself off of imaginary dust, spotting red splatters as he did so. "Oh jeez, what happened there?"

"Ah…. Don't worry about it, Luffy," Sera waved him off, ignoring the stares of her co-workers.

"Oi, where's that fat guy?" Luffy continued, picking his nose.

Fat guy?

…

Pearl?

"Oh," Sanji responded, taking another drag of his cigarette. "He's taken care of."

"Luffy," Sera swatted at Luffy's hands. "Stop that, it's gross."

Luffy frowned in a pout, his eyes getting bigger and rounder as he faced Sera, giving her the cutest pout that she had ever seen from a seventeen-year-old. Which wasn't hard now that she thought about it.

"Oh no! Pearl was defeated!" Someone shouted out.

Seraphina ignored him, instead opting to fret over the Straw Hat captain and his seemingly non-existent hygiene. Zeff watched the golden-eyed woman and the raven-haired captain, knowing that they would be a good pair, not a good pair of lovers but of friends. Still, he wished his son would go. He wished for the younger blond to visit the world as he had never gotten to experience and Zeff had an inkling that the ridiculous straw hat wearing captain would do just that. Too caught up in his thoughts, Zeff was taken off guard. Being pushed down by a heavy hand, his heavy body hit the ground hard; the gun cocking behind him not being a good sign.

"The battle ends here," Gin, Zeff's attacker, stated, puffing his chest out. Sera and Luffy quickly stopped their antics and turned to the first mate.

"Yes!" Don Krieg shouted. "Shoot him! The Red Leg Chef! You only need to kill him, and the restaurant is ours!"

"Gin!" Luffy exclaimed in shock, not thinking that Gin would have done something like this from what he said.

"Zeff!" Seraphina shouted out, worrying for her employer's safety.

"Regardless of how great a man he was before," Gin continued, still pointing the gun at Zeff, "now he's just an ordinary chef. Blasting his head off is no problem now. You want to save this man, don't you, Sanji-san? So just heed my word and get off this ship. I don't wanna have to kill you!"

"Leave this ship? Not a chance!" Sanji removed his cigarette, letting it sit in between his two fingers and addressed the Head Chef. "You look pathetic, old fart. In that state, you can't order the cooks around to fight, can you?"

"I don't want to hear all this crap from a brat," Zeff spat out in his gruff voice.

"Who are you calling a brat, you asshole! Stop treating me like a kid!" Sanji screamed at his mentor. Sera put a hand on his shoulder, silently calming down the blond. The man pushed her back, the push hard enough to knock the unexpecting woman into the arms of Luffy. "Gin, aim that pistol at me!"

"Sanji, no!" Sera shouted, removing herself from Luffy's arms.

"Are you a moron? You'll get killed!" Luffy exclaimed, his voice ringing out onto the ocean's surface.

"Maybe."

A shot fired— not Gin's however— and hit Sera as she jumped out to push Sanji out of the way. Sanji grabbed her before she fell to the ground, keeping her steady as her shoulder bled out from the wound. Sera drooped into the chef's arms, clutching her stinging, bleeding arm. _Papa would be so ashamed._

"Phinie! Sanji! How dare you hurt my crew!" Luffy shouted towards the shooter, Don Krieg.

"Hurry up and kill Red Foot," Don Krieg laughed at Sera's pained expression.

"Why? Why are you two doing all this? If you'd just abandon this restaurant, everyone will be saved! It's simple!" Gin screamed at Sanji, his feelings of compassion getting in the way of being a pirate to a relatively notorious pirate.

"This restaurant is that old man's treasure. I'm the one who took on everything from that geezer," Sanji's voice broke. "His power, his dreams. That's why, I don't want that geezer to lose anything anymore!"

"Sanji!" Sera called to the chef while Luffy frowned.

"If— if I don't place my life on the line as well, I won't be able to repay that old man!" Sanji screamed to the world, steadfast in his declaration. "Even if I can make this restaurant last for just one moment longer."

"He is trying to get killed?" Someone beside Sera questioned, not believing his ears.

Luffy narrowed his eyes, not liking what he was hearing. So, like a genius, he stretched his foot high into the air, letting the people around him exclaim in shock and back away. Sera attempted to stop the captain, only for her to be stopped instead by Luffy's hand stretching and shoving her back.

"Stop it!" Sera screamed. "Luffy!"

"Gomu gomu no axe!" Luffy slammed down his foot on the Baratie's fin, effectively shattering the wooden structure. The force from his kick disrupted the surface, sending strong waves to upset the debris, causing the woman to scramble onto the wood with soft cries of panic, struggling with not touching the saltwater. Sanji reached out, pulling her up and close to him.

"Gin, just blow the old man's head off before I do!" Don Krieg shouted over the mess that was the Baratie fins. Sera scowled at the man.

"Luffy! What are you doing?!"

Luffy turned to the angry blond and the scowling bluenette and deadpanned. "Imma sink the ship."

"No! Luffy!" Everyone protested against the boy, Sera's being the loudest to Luffy since she was closer after all.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sanji grabbed the captain's red shirt, pulling him closer as he yelled at Luffy.

Luffy prepped his arms. "But if the ship's destroyed, their plans will be ruined."

"You have _no_ idea what this restaurant means to me!"

"So you're planning to die for this restaurant? Are you stupid?!" Luffy shouted, slapping Sanji's hands down and yanking his shirt in return. "You don't repay someone by dying! That's not what he saved you for!"

"Hey—" Sanji started, only to be cut off by a feminine scream and a solid thud. He whipped his head around, the urgency only being for that it was a woman's scream, and the sight before him shocked him.

Sera was on the ground on her side, one arm propping herself up from the wooden planks. Gin hovered over the woman. Her eyes were wide, looking to Luffy then back at the Baratie where a large hole resided. Someone had shot something at her…. Krieg.

"Sera!" Sanji realized what happened. Gin knocked Sera out of the way of a bomb…? A bomb was kind of an overkill.

"Gin!" Krieg called out his first mate. "Why would you protect the daughter of the man that destroyed our shipmates?!"

"My apologies, Don Krieg." Gin let the bluenette crawl away from him as he stood up, pulling out his tonfas from god knows where. "But please allow me to put an end to our saviors with my own hands."

"Have you lost your mind? Gin?" Don Krieg paused, his eyes flickering between Gin and Sera.

Luffy pouted, then quickly positioned himself with his hands on his hips and stood proud. "See? It worked great! My plan to lure him out!"

"Bullshit!" Sera slapped his straw hat covered head.

"Sanji," Gin ignored the two's antics, "I wanted you to leave this ship without hurting you, but it seems things can't be this way."

"Yeah, you got that right."

"The least I can do is kill both of you myself. That's the best solution. And you included, Straw Hat."

"Ha. You can threaten me all you want," Sanji smirked, lighting a cigarette as his face darkened. "But don't threaten a lady!"

"I won't lose against weaklings like you," Luffy stated with a bland tone, causing Sera to laugh at the boy's blank expression. He wasn't even smug about it!

"How dare you say that!" The Krieg Crew shouted in their pathetic attempts to seem intimidating. "We're the strongest pirate crew in all of East Blue!"

Luffy tilted his head. "Wasn't that just because you had the biggest number of pirates?"

All the pirates froze, realizing that the idiot captain wouldn't fall for their tricks. It still must have been a sensitive spot; they started tearing. Sera laughed even harder at their faces, her ringing fits ricocheting off the water surface. The pirates gripped their weapons tighter, hating the way the woman blatantly mocked their crew with her laughter. "That's it! Let's kill them ourselves!"

"Back off! You guys are too weak!" Krieg shouted out, effectively stopping his crew. "You there, brat. Who do you think is going to become the King—"

"Me," Luffy deadpanned, crossing his arms. Sera smirked. She would like this kid.

Don Krieg stood up at Luffy's words, completely and totally done with his shit. "It's time to teach that damn brat over there, the true meaning of strength."

"Oh no!" A pirate shouted. "It's the MH5!"

"Don!" Gin shouted. Sera tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "Please, Don! Let me kill them mys—"

"Whether you kill them or I do, the result will be the same." Don Krieg replied to his first mate as he fiddled with something on his shield. "There's nothing I hate more, honor or compassion. In a battle, you fight to win."

"Don! No! Not the gas!"

Sera whipped her towards the first mate, her eyes widening in panic as the Krieg pirates around her took out odd masks and put them on. "What gas?"

"One whiff of this will be enough to kill you!" Krieg shouted. "This is strength!"

"Get into the sea," someone called out as Krieg shot the poison bomb towards the Baratie. "It's coming!"

"Hmph! I'll just knock it down into the sea!" Luffy bolted towards the bomb as the bluenette tried to reach for the rubber boy. Luffy swung his leg, kicking the bomb with his foot. It shattered as he kicked it, the metal splinters flying everywhere and lodging themselves in Luffy's rubbery skin. Sera hardened her body in the black haki, covering her face as the small metal pieces bounced off. "Huh?! It wasn't supposed to be a gas bomb?!"

"Luffy!" Sera shouted at the idiot boy.

"Kinda slow, Luffy!" Sanji agreed with his coworker.

"A single poison gas bomb is enough to wipe out a small town! Like I would waste it on you three!' Krieg laughed.

"Ah," Luffy nodded. "He got me good."

Sera slapped him on the back of the head, not liking how he agreed with the Don.

"This," the Don gestured to everything, "is what a battle is! Now I'll ask you again. Which one of us is going to be the King of—"

"Me," Luffy crossed his arms again. "It definitely can't be you!"

"Gin," Krieg growled at Luffy's actions. "You're responsible for killing that cook! I'll the brat myself!"

"Understood, Don," Gin spun his tonfas around, turning himself towards the chef and the bluenette. "You two can't defeat me."

Sera stepped forward, her hands blackening for a third time. A hand stopped her. She turned her head to the blond. "Sanji?"

"Let me handle this one, Sera," Sanji puffed his cigarette. "He threatened a lady and that…. I just can't stand."

Sera nodded, appreciating his chivalry, and stepped back towards the relative safety of the Baratie. As Luffy flung himself off towards the Don, Gin shot towards the chef, swinging the tonfas wildly. Gin smashed down the tonfas on the already broken planks. Sanji jumped out of the way, kicking for Gin's head instead. After a flurry of kicks and swings, Gin slammed down his tonfa on Sanji's chest, pinning the blond down onto the floor.

"Didn't I say you can't defeat me?" Gin swung his other tonfa faster and then swung down hard. Sera moved towards the pair, only stopping when she saw Sanji spit his cigarette in the man's face, distracting him so he could flip himself from off the floor, effectively dodging the tonfas. Sanji smirked, then slammed his foot down on Gin's head. Gin retaliated with a swing of his own, hitting Sanji in his ribs.

"Ahh!" Sanji screamed out as he hit the floor. He scrambled up, coughing up small splatters of blood as he did. Sera swore to herself. She really should haven't have let him go after Gin alone.

"Ha! His bones are probably shattered by now!" A Krieg pirate laughed.

Gin, now standing, swung at the down at the collapsed chef. Sanji moved out of the way, supporting himself with his hands. He swung down his black clad foot on the pirate's back, hitting him hard. Sanji rested on his knees and clutched his rips; Sera swore her choice words as she saw Sanji. He couldn't even handle his own force of his hits.

Gin, the better of the two, stood back up on his feet. He reached over and clutched Sanji's chin to hold him in place as Gin prepped himself for another one of his attacks. Sera prepared herself in return, letting the power flow through her and blackening the entirety of her leg until Gin shouted out.

"I— I can't kill this man!" Gin cried, his sobs filling the choked silence. "I've never been so kindly treated by another person in my entire life! I know I'm your first mate, but I just can't kill him!"

"How pathetic!" Don Krieg screamed at his first mate. "I had always believed you the most loyal, that's why you are the first mate. And now you can't even do something simple?"

"I'm sorry." The shamed first mate choked out. "I just can't bring myself to kill this man. If there's the slightest chance possible, could we please let this chef go?

The Don saw red flash before his eyes. He moved his shield to show the mouth of the skull opening to reveal a black hole. The pirates around in the ocean moved, shouting as they scrambled around to leave the area. Luffy clenched his fists. The threat of poison gas was real this time. Gin shifted around in his jacket, finally pulling out a gas mask.

"Throw that gas mask away!" Krieg screamed. "You are no longer part of the crew!"

While Gin blanched, not expecting his captain to go to those extremes, Luffy sprinted towards the Don. He bolted over a fallen mast, shouting as he went along. "I won't let you shoot that poison gas!" Don Krieg slammed his armored fist against the mast, crushing it so Luffy won't be able to reach him. Krieg moved his shield, aiming towards the boy. He fired pointed bullets at the boy, the sharp ends of the bullets slicing against his skin.

Sera's eyes widened. They were hurting him. _Shit,_ she thought, _sharp objects hurt him._ Luffy clambered over the mast and plopped his butt onto the shattered fin.

"Gin!" Luffy shouted in his high voice. "You don't have to listen to what that weakling says! I'm gonna kick his ass!"

"Don't you dare insult Don Krieg!" Sera sighed and rolled her eyes at the man's loyalty. I mean, how could you be so loyal to an idiot? Gin held up his gas mask. "He's the strongest man. You don't have a chance of defeating him. I deserve this! I broke the crew's law!"

And with that, Gin threw the mask into the water as his former captain shot the poison bomb. As Luffy stretched out his hands for two unfortunate pirate's masks, Sera bolted towards Gin's discarded mask. She wasn't going to let it go to waste. The woman plunged her hand into the water, grasping around for the nearby mask. Fortunately, the mask was caught on some stray netting, quite literally hanging on threads. Just as the bomb hit, Sera slipped on the mask, hesitantly taking a breath.

…

Oh good. She's still alive. Hearing Luffy's pants, Sera whipped her head around, waiting for the fog as she feared for the kid. He was laying on the ground but was perfectly fine, clutching his own mask as he panted. Wait, where did he get the mask?

"Gin!" Luffy screamed towards a fog covered figure. Sera directed her head to where Luffy had shouted, her mouth dropping at what she saw. Gin, his own face purple and blotching, was currently holding down a mask over Sanji's face. It finally clicked in Sera's mind. Gin had sacrificed himself. The man spat out blood and collapsed on the ground as his former captain laughed in the distance.

Sera scrambled over to Sanji and Gin, setting down her mask as she reached the two. Helping Sanji sit Gin up, Sera wiped away the blood and looked into Sanij's eyes with a worried gaze. "I don't know how to treat the poison, especially when I don't know what it's made of."

Sanji glumly nodded, turning his head to laughing pirate. "It seems you picked the wrong man to follow."

The Don laughed even harder at the chef's words while Sera looked back up to Sanji. "Don't we have antidotes? Maybe we should put the mask on him?"

"It should have a detoxifying effect on him." Sanji's eyes widened while Zeff nodded at the woman's words, injecting himself into the conversation. Sera turned towards Zeff as Sanji occupied himself with adjusting Gin's mask. "Patty, bring Gin up to the second floor and make sure he has the mask on."

Patty gently pushed Sera aside as he scooped the dying man and scuffled him into the ship causing the East Blue King to laugh. "It's no use!"

"Don't die, Gin." Luffy clenched his fists. "I'm gonna kick his ass!"

"No! Luffy!" Sera reached for Luffy's wrist, attempting to stop him in his actions for the boy to only brush her aside.

"I'll be fine, Phinie," Luffy deadpanned, taking off his hat and setting it on Sera's blue hair. If she had known the significance of the gesture at this time, she would have most definitely have felt deeply flattered at Luffy's actions. However, Sera didn't know Luffy very well and, instead, was slightly insulted. She's not a baby sitter for hats, even if Luffy really didn't want it to get damaged. Still, she turned back to watch Luffy's bolting form.

"Seraphina!" Patty shouted, causing the woman to look back at her caller. Patty was struggling to carry Gin even with Carne's help. Jumping up from her position on the floor, Sera restrung Luffy's hat around her neck as she followed the three into the Baratie. Together the four of them scramble up the stairs in the race for time, only separating as Sera searched for the antidote in the storage room as the other two took Gin to the top level. Knocking down other ingredients, Sera breathed out in relief as she found activated carbon.

Sera raced back up the stairs, even skipping over some, to Gin. She found the trio out in the sun, shouting nonsense to each other in their panic. Sliding down to the poisoned man, she took out the carbon and pressed it into the man's face after taking his mask off. Sera turned to the bickering duo. "Stop shouting about food and get him some water!"

The two froze up and quickly scrambled back into the Baratie to the kitchen allowing Sera to force feed the carbon to the man. "Is— is Don Krieg okay?"

"I don't know," Sera whispered in her soothing voice in an attempt to wash out the sounds of snapping and crushing in the background. "Just rest for now okay?"

The man nodded in his own defeat, closing his eyes but not falling asleep and let the carbon do its work. Patty and Carne, just in time like always, had slammed open the door and set a bucket of water down next to Gin. Sera narrowed her eyes. She said a glass, not a bucket. She opened her mouth only for someone's shout to cut her off.

"DON KRIEG WAS DEFEATED!"

"Krige lost…?" Gin trailed off as the three people around him sighed in relief. "I truly believed that he was the strongest."

"Sometimes those you think are immortal are actually the most mortal of us all." Sera nodded in response to the man's words, thinking back on a certain red-haired pirate and his missing limb. When Sera had asked him about it, the man didn't talk for days, realizing he would no longer be able to fully duel her golden eyed father.

Gin nodded, not really listening to her words but instead picking himself off the floor. Patty and Carne waved their hands in the air, half-ass attempting to stop the man from leaving the top story of the Baratie. Sera, still on the ground, gently hit one of the men's shin, nodding towards the leaving man. "Go help him."

The two quickly nodded, going over to follow Gin as he stumbled over himself. Sera sighed and stood up. She gently gripped the railings as she peered over the railing onto the smashed deck below. Her grip tightened as she spotted discarded black shoes and jacket. Sanji. He must have jumped into the water.

"Why did he jump into the water?" Sera whispered to herself. Eyes flickering over the entire scene, she noticed a missing Straw Hat captain. Her eyes widened in the realization that Luffy must have fallen in the water. He ate a devil fruit. He would sink. Her feet carried her down the stairs and onto the shattered deck in her panic. Bursting onto the deck, the woman sighed in relief at the sight before her: Sanji had laid out Luffy on the deck. They were fine. Walking over to the duo, Sera laid the hat over Luffy's face.

"No one dares to go against me!" Don Krieg stood back up, blood dripping down his face as he swayed on his feet. His crew were screaming at him to stop. All in vain. In all honesty, it looked pathetic. "I am the strongest!"

Sera watched as Gin stalked over to his captain, throwing back his fist in preparation for a punch. And a strong punch did Gin deliver. Don Krieg was immediately silenced, falling back into the waiting arms of his first mate. "We've lost, Don Krieg. Let's retreat for today and start anew."

Gin threw the thoroughly knocked out Don over his shoulder as he waved back at Sanji and motioned for the leftover pirate crew to leave the ship. "Thanks for everything, Sanji. Seraphina."

"Yeah," Sanji groaned, lightly touching his rips. "Don't come back."

"Sanji," Gin started. "When he wakes up, could you pass him this message? _Let's meet again, out on the Grand Line._ "

"You still want to be a pirate?" Sanji questioned.

"When I think about it, there's nothing else I wanna do," Gin nodded solemnly.

"Patty!" Sanji shouted to the now arrived cook. Where the hell were they? "Give him the boat used to go grocery shopping!"

"What? Why?"

"Shut up and give them the damn boat," Sanji snapped as Sera gathered up Luffy's form and started dragging him into the Baratie. He was really snoring.

 _He was like a baby_ , Seraphina realized. _A relatively fully-grown baby._ Nevertheless, she still dragged him through the ship, up the stairs, and down the halls towards her own bedroom. She heaved the boy into her bed, tucking the captain into the sheets like a little kid. Sighing, the woman sat down on the edge of the bed and set down the straw hat onto a nearby stand. Hmm, now that she thought about it, the hat seems familiar. Oh, well.

Snores of the sleeping Luffy filled the silence of the room as the woman planned on what she was going to do. Should she follow the boy? Or just stay here? Even Zeff didn't want her now that he knew her lineage. Ugh, this is why she didn't like her eyes. Knocking on her door had the woman pulled from her thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened on her que, revealing smoking Sanji. He smiled. "Someone said they saw you dragging the chore boy up here."

"Yeah," she breathed out, "I figured I would let him rest in my room. I don't know how clean the men's rooms are."

"Not very," Sanji whispered mostly to himself.

"Would you like to sit?" Sera remembered her manners, standing up and gesturing to the small sofa in the corner.

"I'm fine," Sanji smiled, happy that a woman was giving him attention. "I just came here to see him and to tell you that the pirates are gone now."

"Ah," the woman nodded, sensing that there was something else the man wanted to speak about.

Sanji removed the cigarette from his lips, realizing that he was clouding up his coworker's room with his smoke. He moved over to the balcony doors, pushing them open to let out the pungent air. "I'm sorry, Sera. I shouldn't have come in with my cigarette."

Sera smiled at his consideration— even if it was for just females. Joining him at the balcony, she leaned against the rails, appreciating the fact that she had a room on the other side of the ship that the battle hadn't been on.

"So what are you going to do now?" Sanji broke the silence, gesturing to the sleeping boy. "He offered you a place on his crew."

"He offered you one too," she whispered back, turning back to face her bare room. She hadn't even unpacked, and it been almost a month since she'd been here. A month and she still hadn't done anything to her room.

"Yeah, but…." Sanji trailed off, the implied message of his debt to Zeff hanging in the air.

"Sanji," Sera started. "You—"

"Aaahhhhhh! My hat!" Sera and Sanji turned to the shouting boy, his body currently sitting up in the bed as he clutched his head.

"It's right there, isn't it?" Sanji said in his deep voice as he gestured to the hat resting on a nearby stand.

"Ah!" Luffy reached over with his rubber powers and plopped his beloved hat on his head. "It is!"

"How are you feeling, Luffy?" Sera smiled as she saw the gleeful look on the boy's face.

Luffy's face lit up even more as he saw the bluenette. "Ah! Phinie! Thanks for keeping my hat safe!"

"No problem, Luffy," Sera softly smiled at the boy. His emotions were infectious.

"What happened to those guys?" Luffy tilted his head.

"They left," Sanji took a drag on his cigarette. "Gin said 'I'll meet you on the Grand Line!'"

"Oh, cool!" Luffy crossed his legs, sitting up straight. "He said that to you?"

"He said that to you, dumbass!" Sanji yelled at the boy as Sera sighed in disappointment. He was… an idiot to put it nicely.

"Ah! That's right!" Luffy shouted, causing the bluenette to inwardly cringe. What was he thinking now? "I'm finally done with being a chore boy! I made the promise with the old man! And Phinie is coming too! We gotta start packing!" Luffy glanced around the bare room, taking in the still packed bags that was forever grouped in one area. "Ah, looks like Phinie started! What about you, Sanji?"

"I ain't going," Sanji leaned against the railing as he studied Sera, trying to interrupt what she would do. "I'm going to stay here."

Luffy pouted. "Fine, I'll give up then."

The boy shot out his arm, grabbing the man's collar as he pulled. Sera tugged on Luffy's arm, only causing it to stretch even more as she told off the captain. "Luffy! Stop!" With a snap of his appendage, Luffy retracted his arm, leaving the blond to let out a few quick breathes of relief and small mutters of Luffy not really giving up.

"Luffy," Sanji reinserted his cigarette. "After something like that, I can't afford to leave him. Eventually, I would like to out to the Grand Line."

"Let's go now!"

"No, not yet," Sanji smiled, a smile that showed the happiest expression Seraphina had seen on the man. "Hey, do you know about the All Blue?"

Sera had. It was talked about a lot back home. Whispers were always sent around about the magical place as the gentle waves hit against the rocks. Almost everyone wanted back home wanted to see All Blue; they wanted to swim with fish that they most likely would have never seen. Not everyone was able to travel like her.

"—Fish from all different seas live there! It's a miracle sea for us cooks!—"

Sera let the man talk about his paradise. She was sure it existed. There were too many weird ass things in the Grand Line for there not to be a paradise sea. So instead, she listened to the sea, focusing on the gentle pattering of waves that were so familiar to her. The waves had grown up with her. Whispering their wisdom to her as they did to her ancestors so long ago; harboring her and her people for generations.

Her mother had taught her to listen to the ocean, their people's precious water. Her mother told her stories of their ancient people and how some of their ancestors could command the sea, controlling the waters and how they could even heal. It was an ancient practice that had long been lost. But she would find it again. She knew she would.

"Sera," someone shook her arm. Sanji. "They rung the bell, it's time to eat."

"Oh," Sera shook herself out of her thoughts, noticing that Luffy was already gone. "I'll be right down soon. Let me clear my head, okay?"

Sanji raised his eyebrow, scanning over the woman, but he nodded anyway and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Sera rested her hands on the balcony railing, closing her eyes as she breathed in the salty air. Determined to find her answer, she turned herself over to the ocean, letting the rocking of the ship takeover her senses. She called out to the ocean, and the ocean responded.

 _Trust me_. And so she did.

 **So, this isn't really important to the story, but what would you call Luffy's noise he makes as he pouts? I don't know what he does in the dub, so I'm talking about the sub. It's just, the weirdest noise I've ever heard. Anyway, let's move on the to the reviews. I'm glad you guys like it so far. I'm glad that the reveal in Sera's familial relation went well and I most likely keep the ZoroxOc.**


	4. The Ocean's New Crew

**Please review! Your feedback helps. I just want to make sure that the extra noncannon person is mixing into the story well. I know that another person is going to make the story different, but I still want it to be close enough to the canon storyline.**

Sera had just finished wrapping up her gunshot wound when a huge crashing noise startled the woman, causing her to fall to the floor. Landing with a harsh fall, she pulled herself up with her bed and scrambled over to the balcony again. There was… another huge hole. What was with people crashing into here?

Sera, knowing that this might be the last time she would be in this room, dumped out her packed bags and kicked off her shoes. Stripping off her waitress vest and blouse, she opted for her classic off shoulder short sleeved shirt— not bothering to wear a bra since she usually didn't wear one. Slipping off her slacks, she changed into a tighter pant. She carefully laced up her black over shirt corset. The woman braided her hair into her normal style.

Finally, reaching for her jewelry, the woman relished in it's cold touch, missing the feeling of the metal around her skin. She replaced the empty space around her ankle with two gold bands while her left arm was adorned with two twisting serpents interlocking with a green jewel. The last was her choker; a single snake wrapping around her neck and resting itself against her skin.

The woman repacked her bags, leaving behind the uniform as it wasn't really hers. She didn't have much. She like to travel light so it wasn't long until she spotted the bag her father had given to her earlier today. How did she forget about that?

Picking up the small black bag, the woman turned it over and shook it. Out came two rings and two bracelets. Wait, that was four. Mihawk only talked about two things. One ring was a dark purple gem laid in silver, that one was from her father and mother. Okay. She slipped on the purple ring onto her right ring finger, appreciating the way it somehow absorbed the room's light. Moving onto another one, she found the one from her uncle. A thin red jeweled snake wrapped around it meet its tail. Sera scoffed. The red matched his hair. Slipping it onto her right hand, the woman turned herself towards the last bracelet. It was completely gold. Ah, she knew what it was. An anklet for her coming of age. Anklets were a traditional custom back on her home island.

But what was the last one? It was a small silver ring, two snakes wrapping themselves to grip a green jewel. Who was that from? Her mother? Her grandmother? Her intended? If so, why didn't Mihawk tell her?

Huffing in annoyance, the woman discarded the now useless bag and finished her packing, slinging the small travel sized bag over her shoulder. Finally getting ready to leave, she slipped on her boots and walked out the door and locked it behind her. Ready for her new and unexpected journey, the bluenette mentally prepared herself for the sight she would see as stepped off the final step of the stairwell.

And what the fuck? There was a pandashark flopping forgotten on the floor as everyone watched Luffy shout out in happiness. Stepping over more shattered wood, the woman reached Luffy, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. She did a double take as she saw one of Zoro's half-bitten companions. "What happened?"

"Sanji joined the crew!" Luffy shouted, jumping around with Sera in his arms. Not what she meant, but okay. She gave a Sanji a confused look. When did that happen? Sanji shrugged at her expression. "We'll actually have good food!"

"Luffy!" Sera cried out as Luffy jumbled her remaining brain cells.

"You guys should probably get going huh?" Zeff spoke up, happy that his surrogate son finally setting out. Sanji nodded while his new captain completely ignored the head chef, still flailing around with Seraphina. "Patty, bring around Sanji's boat while Luffy goes and packs up some food from the storage."

"MEAT!" Luffy let go of dizzy Sera and bounced off into the kitchen. Sanji caught the falling barista, his eyes going into their usual hearts. The woman quickly snapped out of her spell when she caught his stare, not wanting to deal with his weird affections. She and Sanji let their captain pick out their food— something she would later learn to not let Luffy do— and waited for the boat.

It was a decent sized ship, just big enough for the four of them and it even had a kitchen. She let Sanji leave, most likely going to pack up his own things. It was then that Zeff had chosen to speak to his only female worker— ex-worker. He went over to stand next to her, watching the water as she did.

"I'm going to offer Luffy my Grand Line journal," the older man spoke first.

"He's not going to take it." Sera turned her head to face the chef. "I know that kind of man. They don't like that kind of help."

"Ah, I figured," Zeff nodded. "I just wanted to offer. He seems like the good kind."

"He does."

Zeff breathed out and walked off towards the kitchens. "It was nice meeting you, Dracule Seraphina!"

The woman laughed, shaking her head as she turned back to her loved ocean. "That's not my name!"

Zeff paused, stopping only for a second as he returned to his pace, his suspicions furthering as he heard her confession. He was truly glad he wasn't going to keep her around after hearing that. Who knows what trouble she would have caused? Regardless, he left her to herself. And that was how she waited until her new captain showed up, clutching a big bag of food and bouncing with excitement.

"Oh wow!" Luffy shouted, slamming the bag onto the ship and hugging Sera. "Two new crew mates in a day!" Her captain— oh she'll have to get used to that— glanced around. "This is great!"

"Hey, where is brother cook?" Yosaku spoke up, giving a glance to the woman. She shrugged in response. Right on que, Sanji walked out. "Ah, he's here."

Sanji started walking, completely blasé as Patty and Carne attacked him. He swung around and kicked them on the head, not sweating a drop as he did so. He was strong, Sera'll give him that. Sanji would be very useful to Luffy. She hoped that she would be too, but they'll have to wait and see. Sanji made it to his ship, setting down his bags. "Let's go."

"What about good-byes?" Luffy questioned. Sera tilted her head, even she had said her farewells on the way out and he lived here almost his whole life.

"Hey, Sanji," Zeff called out. "Don't catch a cold."

Sanji paused, his lip quivering as his eyes started to water. The cook dropped down into a bow, tears and sobs being heard by all the workers. "Zeff! Thank you for taking care of me! I won't forget the debt I owe you!" All the Baratie workers started tearing up as Luffy gently pushed off the boat with the new cook on it. "I'll see you guys again someday!"

* * *

Luffy was sitting at the ship's bow, basking in the sun as the small ship continued on with their journey. Luffy stretched out his arms, groaning as he moved his body. "Ahhh! I'm so excited!"

Seraphina looked up from her studying of the water— she liked how the waves moved— to turn towards her new captain. She smiled at his excitement, glad that she had chosen to follow him. It wouldn't have been fun if she had chosen a serious captain. Serious captains are boring! "Luffy?"

"Ahhh! I wanna get back Nami so we ca go to the Grand Line already!"

"Are you seriously planning on going to the Grand Line with only six people?" Sanji raised his eyebrow. Sera will admit, that seemed kind of stupid. But if Luffy could pull it off, well, it might be okay. "Don't underestimate the seas, Luffy."

"If we need more crewmembers, I can get more in the Grand Line! It's supposed to be a paradise!" Luffy smiled with his famous "D" smile.

"More like a graveyard for pirates," Yosaku whispered under his breathe. Sera had to agree with him. Most rookie pirates were taken out in the first half of Paradise, let alone them getting to the New World.

"Zeff told me that some people call the Grand Line a paradise!" Luffy continued.

Sera furrowed her brows in thought. "They call the first half of the Grand Line 'Paradise,' Luffy. Not ' _a_ paradise.' The second half is called the 'New World.' Although, I guess you could call the first half a paradise in comparison to the New World."

Sanji looked towards the second female Straw Hat pirate. "I know Mihawk's your father, but were you born on the Grand Line?"

"Born and bred. In the New World, technically, but I was mostly raised in the first half." Sera nodded as Luffy was being distracted by himself.

"You're being too naïve!" Yosaku shouted at the captain. "You know too little about the Grand Line!" Sanji and Sera narrowed their eyes at the man. Did he just miss their entire conversation? Luffy was a handful at times, but they were right next to him. "Not to mention our destination as well!"

"What is our destination?" Seraphina asked when she realized she had no idea where they were going, tilting her head at the three men. Her mother would not be proud of this moment. Yosaku sputtered before falling to the ground in dramatization.

"Arlong Park," Sanji responded instead for the woman's benefit. The woman tensed in fear, reaching up and clutching at her showing arm band. She didn't want the fishmen to realize who she was. Yosaku mistook her tensing for fear of Arlong's brutality, spewing off fearful stories of the fishmen pirates.

"We should eat!" Luffy exclaimed, completely unaware of the tensing woman.

"No!" Yosaku interrupted himself, angry about Luffy's complete disregard of basic knowledge of the… well, pretty much everything. "I guess I'll just tell you guys everything!"

 _Please, don't,_ Sera thought to herself. But he continued to her dismay. "The reason why the Grand Line is often called the "Pirates' Graveyard," is because of the three great powers. The Shichibukai, the Yonkos, and the Marines."

"Shichibukai?" Sanji questioned.

"They're seven warlords that are _supposed_ to do the government's bidding in exchange for immunity from their crimes," Seraphina explained. "My father is one, actually."

"WOAH!" Luffy exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

"No, Luffy," Sera admonished. "You don't want to ever meet a Shichibukai. My father even made me promise not to meet another one outside of his and Jin—" Sera stopped herself, deciding not to say the man's name "—outside of my father's protection."

Yosaku nodded furiously. "There's even a bigger problem. The leader of the Fishman Pirates, Jinbe!"

"Fishman?" Luffy tilted his head.

"Fishman?" Sanji looked at Sera. "Isn't Fishman Island a very famous travel destination in the Grand Line?"

"Yes," Sera nodded. "Pretty much all pirates have to go through the Island in order to get the New World."

"In return for joining the Shichibukai, Jinbe let a terrifying monster loose in the East Blue," Yosaku continued with his knowledge sharing that Luffy was surprisingly listening to.

"Like this?" Luffy held up a pathetic drawing of a fish with legs drawn on. Sanji laughed while Sera face palmed. She spoke too soon.

"You can't pay attention!" He screamed at the poor boy. "Any way, like Sanji said, we're headed for Arlong Park. He's stronger than even Don Krieg."

"Wait, how do we know Nami's headed towards Arlong Park? She could have been going towards the place, but not at it."

"No," the man disagreed. "She was staring intently at Arlong's wanted poster after we mentioned him and his havoc. There's some conn—"

"How about this?" Luffy held up the drawing of an upright fish to the bluenette. She shook her head, trying to contain her laughter at the pathetic art. Luffy frown and made a noise. His eyes flashed with some kind of idea or thought— oh god— and he looked at Sera. "Wait, you said you were in the Grand Line!" Holy shit, he was paying attention? "Do you know what Fishmen look like?"

Seraphina nodded. "My island is close, but they don't look anything like that, Luffy."

"I wonder what Nami has to do with them?" Sanji leaned back, picturing a perverted fantasy of his as he continued. "Maybe she's a mermaid?"

"Like this?" Luffy held up his previous drawing with orange hair. Sanji shouted at the boy while Sera shook her head.

"She most likely isn't a mermaid." Sera spoke mostly to herself. "Mermaids' tails split around their 30ish year, but there are some medications that can force the tail to split when on dry land. If we dump her with water, if she has a tail, it would rejoin and that way we would know for sure."

Sanji studied the woman as the other two men babbled on with whatever they were talking about. "You know a lot about Fishmen."

Sera looked up at Sanji. "It's close island."

"Must be very close."

"It is," Sera raised her eyebrow. "Am I being interrogated, Sanji?"

"No," Sanji shook his head, finally realizing how he must have sounded. "I'm just curious. In any case, let's eat." Sanji stood up, tapping a distracted Luffy on the head. "Ah! No one has any allergies, right?" Luffy shook his head, exclaiming about meat. "Well then, what do you guys want?"

"MEAT!"

"Stir-fried bean sprouts!"

"Nothing with fish, please," Sera spoke softly, knowing she would still be heard.

"Are you allergic?" Sanji tilted his head at the woman.

"No, I just don't like fish," Sera explained. "I can eat it, but I don't like it." The Straw Hat chef nodded and headed towards the kitchen.

"Ah, it sure is nice having a cook," Luffy exclaimed again, sniffing the air as Sanji's cooking wafted to them. "Mmhhmmm…."

"Here you guys go!" Sanji placed the dishes in front of them, smiling as the other three started digging into his food.

"Mmm," Sera moaned as she bit into well flavored bean sprouts, "I'm so glad we took Sanji with us!"

Sanji's eyes turned into hearts. He jumped onto the bluenette exclaiming something about "Sera-swama" as the said woman pushed him off of her while the other two men ignored them. She shouldn't have said that. The boat started rocking more as Luffy and Yosaku began to fight over the last piece of meat.

"Guys, stop," Sera shouted to everyone. "We're rocking the boat!" _And not in the good way,_ Sera thought to herself as her mind drifted towards a certain green haired man. Sera widened as she realized where her mind was headed. Mentally hitting herself, she forced herself out of it. Never had she ever thought of a past partner once she left them. This was odd.

"You two," Sanji called out for her as the two buffoons started running around on the small ship, "are going to flip the ship! Stop!"

Luffy and Yosaku settled down as Sera stood up and slammed her leg down on the rubber boy's head. Rubbing his head, not for the pain but for the hat, Luffy scowled at his new crew member and stuck out his tongue. An odd groaning noise was heard below by the Straw Hat chef. Raising his swirly brow, Sanji picked himself up and looked over the ship into the water.

 _Groan._

 _What the fuck?_ Sanji thought to himself. "Be quiet."

Sera narrowed her eyes at him. _Did he just tell me to be quiet?_

"There's something down there."

The woman leaned over next to Sanji, glancing into the deep blue. Knowing how the ocean worked after spending so many years on the blue water, Seraphina knew something big was swimming under them. "The surface currents aren't right. It's close to us. And it's big."

Just as the barista said her words, the animal lifted itself out of the water, towering over the small ship. It was a green spotted sea cow with a golden bullring in its nose. Oh. What's a sea cow doing in East Blue?

"It's a cow!" Luffy awed at the large animal.

"It's a monster!" Yosaku shouted at the poor thing.

Sera turned to the man, hitting him on his head. "No, it's a sea cow. And they're completely harmless. It's probably just hungry."

Sanji's eyes snapped to the woman, his mind already made up. He turned to the kitchen for the extra food. Oblivious to Sanji's actions, Luffy pointed his finger towards the hungry sea cow as he shouted threats to the poor animal while Yosaku kept feeding Luffy's excitement with his own supportive yells. The barista simultaneously whacked the two with her hands.

"Oh stop," she admonished. "He's just hungry. Isn't that right, sea cow? Aw, he's scared." Sera reached up to rub the sea monster's snout as it lowered its shaking head towards the woman. Luffy made a noise of disgruntlement and pouted. "Luffy, you have to learn how to make friends. Friends on the Grand Line can be very powerful. You can't fight your way out of everything."

Luffy's pout deepened but after carefully thought— if Luffy even thinks— Luffy stopped his pout and nodded. "Okay. He can have some."

Sera smiled at her captain, the boy proving himself more as a true captain the longer she stayed with him. She really did make a good choice. "Sanji!"

The said man appeared from the kitchen with a huge platter of the leftover food. Leaning down more, the sea cow opened its mouth for the food, small whimpers being heard from the animal. The cow waited patiently as Sanji dumped the food into its mouth, only closing when Sera said it was okay. A smile on its face, the cow made content noises as Sera patted its nose.

"What's your name, sea cow?" Sera asked, leaning against the ship, listening closely to the sea cow's happy groans and moos. "Momoo?"

The cow nodded, happily dancing in the ocean.

"Momoo, can you take us to Arlong Park?" The cow nodded, letting Sanji and Luffy tie a rope around the creature's bull horns. Patting the sea king's nose, the woman stepped back and let the sea monster take its course, speeding along the blue ocean.

"GO! To Arlong Park!" Luffy jumped onto the bow, shouting as he did so. Sera smiled at the bouncing boy and his excitement. There will be a huge fight at the Sabaody Park imitator, but she was sure that at least she could take down the Fishmen with her crew's help. "Faster! Yahoo!"

The boat bounced in the air, causing the woman to sway and collapse. Sanji quickly caught her before she hit the wooden planks. He noted her pale face started to green with each bounce in the air. "Do you have motion sickness?"

"Kind of," the woman nodded in his arms, still getting greener. "I can't stand flying in the air or heights."

Sanji nodded to himself, making a mental note on her disabilities. _Don't fly or go up really high. Alright. They're on the ocean, shouldn't be that hard not to do,_ Sanji thought to himself, not realizing that there were islands in the sky.

"Ooo," Luffy caught the attention of the two former Baratie workers. "Arlong Park! Hey! What are you doing?"

Sanji looked up from the close to fainting woman, not liking what he was hearing. And, well, it wasn't good. The cow had shifted its direction for some reason, probably because it was so tired, and now they were headed towards the rock cliffs. Sanji clutched the bluenette tighter, preparing himself and the woman for the impact. Instead of all four of them being splattered into the rockface, the boat took to the sky, leaving behind the damaged sea cow.

"Sanji," the woman moaned.

"Yeah, sorry," Sanji needlessly apologized.

Luffy exclaimed in excitement as the woman's face got greener. "It's like we're flying!"

"NOT LIKE!"

"We are flying, dumbass!" Sanji screamed at his captain, still clutching Seraphina.

"We're falling, you twits!" Sera moaned from Sanji's arms, her sounds getting louder as the ship jolted as it came into contact with trees. With another crash sounding out, Luffy shouted again.

"Yo! Zoro!" Luffy cried out in surprise.

Sera narrowed her eyes. _Zoro? What was he doing in the middle of a forest?_ A slam rang out in the dense woods. _Shit, did we hit something?_ She struggled to steady herself and Sanji as the ship skidded into a rice paddy, taking down anything in its way. With another slam, the boat stopped itself in the rock cliff, shattering into pieces. Seems like Luffy is doing that a lot these days. Head still spinning, Seraphina opted to rest in the rubble until strong arms lifted her up from her odd resting spot and laid her down in the softer grass. Sera mentally thanked whoever did that and rolled on her stomach, crawling to a nearby bush. Lifting herself off the ground, she emptied her earlier meal into the unfortunate plant. The plant matched Zoro's hair, she dually noted.

As Zoro watched the woman vomit into the bush, a single thought started running through his head. He quickly did the mental math; it would check out. So, he leaned over to the woman who had stopped and dropped his voice to a whisper. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

The woman paused, not believing what he had just asked. She gets into that mess of a crash landing and he asks if she's pregnant? She is a responsible person. The audacity! Sera slowly turned to the man, giving him a glare as she did so. "No, Zoro. No."

"Ah! Zoro! Have you found Nami yet?" Luffy loudly interrupted the two's reunion— if you could call it that— and looked around while patting down his clothes. "Hey, where's Usopp and Johnny?"

"Oh! Crap!" The man shouted, his— yes, his— pregnancy scare forgotten. He sprinted towards the sea. "We have to go. That idiot go himself caught by Arlong. If we don't—"

"He was already killed!" Someone else had interrupted. Sera turned towards the intruder. Oh, it was just Johnny. A beat-up Johnny. Hm… The man collapsed on the ground, scuff marks everywhere on his body, as his clenched fists punching the ground. "It's too late. He was killed by Big Sis Nami!"

"W- what?" Seraphina looked at Johnny, confusion written on her face. Why would Nami do something like that?

"She was a witch all along!" Johnny continued with the revelation. "She was winning Arlong's favor, so she could have the treasure for herself! She's scum! She fooled us."

Sera furrowed her brows, making a face. Arlong siding with humans. That wasn't right. There was something deeper going on in Cocoyashi Village. Although she didn't get the chance to voice her opinion, Luffy— the ever so graceful captain— had taken ahold of Johnny's shirt, pulling him up as the captain shouted his firm beliefs of Nami's loyalty to the doubting man.

"She wouldn't do that. We're friends!"

 _You have a fucked-up definition of friends, then,_ Seraphina thought to herself, opting not to contribute to the conversation since she just joined the crew.

"Who are friends?" A feminine voice interjected, causing Luffy to call her name in surprise. "Why are you here?"

"What're you talking about? We're friends. We came to get you!" Sera had to appreciate his determination though.

"Friends? We were just a cooperation," Nami scoffed.

"Hey, I saw you," Johnny stood up, pointing at the woman. "You killed Bro Usopp!"

"And?" Nami twirled her staff. "Look, I'll tell you guys this. Arlong wants to kill Roronoa Zoro and his men." Sera gave a questioning look to the said man, a look that was responded with a shrug. "No matter how strong you guys are, you're no match for the real monsters."

"We don't give a shit about that," Zoro growled at the woman, "Where's Usopp?"

"At the bottom of the ocean," Nami sneered at the green-haired man, smirking as Zoro snarled at her. Zoro reached for his swords, launching himself at the organette as she stood her ground against the swordsman. She had balls, Sera will give her that. As Zoro got close to the woman, Sanji blocked the sword's blades as Zoro unsheathed the blade. Seraphina shook her head at the two men.

"Does a swordsman harm ladies, Roronoa Zoro?" Sanji sneered, starting a bickering match between the two. Sera sighed, shaking her head as she walked over to the two of them, letting her fingers entwine with the familiar green hair and the smooth blond hair. Not letting either of the two men say a word, Sera slammed their foreheads together, effectively shutting the two morons up.

"This is not the time to be bickering, you two," Seraphina said as she watched Zoro and Sanji rub their heads. She did hit them hard.

"She's right," Nami crossed her arms. "If you're going to fight, do it somewhere else. I only stuck around with you guys for the money! Now I got what I wanted, I don't need you guys!" Nami pointed her staff at the rubber boy, mistakenly showing a black gloved hand to the bluenette. "You can have the ship so just get another navigator and be on your way!"

"Nami," Luffy whispered to himself, a stunned expression on his young face. Giving a slight pout, Luffy leaned back and let himself fall to the dirt path, a small cloud of dust lifting up around him.

"Luffy!" Sera kneeled down to the boy, worrying that maybe Krieg had wounded him somewhere she didn't find.

"I'm gonna sleep," Luffy mumbled to no one in particular, resting his arms behind his head. Sera sighed in relief. "I don't wanna leave this island yet and I'm sleepy."

"Fine!" Nami screamed at the boy, her face reddening in anger. "You can die for all I care!"

The woman turned her body and bolted down the path, going back to wherever she was needed. Seraphina raised her eyebrow at the woman's actions. What exactly was the point of coming here and tell them? A loud yawn coming from behind the bluenette had the woman turning herself back to her new crew. Zoro had his sword sheathed, his arms stretched out behind him as he yawned. Settling himself beneath a shadowy palm tree, the man rested the swords against his arm and closed his eyes in his attempt to drift off into sleep as Johnny and Yosaku ran around screaming about Arlong. Sanji followed the other man's lead and sat against a different palm.

Hands on her hips, Seraphina contemplated on whether or not she should drag the snoring boy into the shade or not. Figuring it would be his problem if he got sun burn, she opted to drag her valuables from the ship wreck. Distancing herself from the group, she ruffled through the broken ship and found her single bag. Remembering Sanji's bag, Sera shuffled through to the find Sanji's items. Pulling the large item from its place under a wooden beam, the woman set the bag down on the ground. Removing her identifying jewelry, the woman hid her beloved objects into her bag, stuffing the gemmed accessories deep into her small bag.

"USOPP!"

Sera jolted, not expecting the shout from her captain. Swinging her bag on her shoulders, she lifted Sanji's bag into her arms and sprinted back to the group. Zoro and Sanji were standing next to each other as Luffy was hanging onto another man. As Sera came closer, she could see a brown checkered bandana and black curly hair.

….Usopp…?

"…. Nami stabbed herself instead of me! She saved my life," the man's voice confirmed the woman's suspicions. It was Usopp. Huh, maybe this Nami wasn't so bad. That was pretty clever with the glove and hand stabbing. The bluenette slowed down, setting down hers and Sanji's bags, noting the absence of Johnny and Yosaku. "If you ask me, there must be some reason why she ended up joining the Arlong Pirates."

"Well, duh." Sera spoke up. "Arlong doesn't just take in humans unless for a very good reason."

"It's still useless," someone behind the bluenette spoke up. Sera turned around to find a purple haired woman behind her. "No matter what you do, you won't be able to change Arlong's rule."

"Nojiko," Usopp exclaimed.

"Who's she?" Luffy pointed rudely, causing the bluenette to slap him on the head and whisper something about manners to the boy.

"She's Nami's sister," Usopp explained to the group, ignoring the woman's abuse of the captain.

"Don't involve yourselves with the village," the woman continued without missing a beat. "I'll tell you our history, but I want you to leave afterwards."

"No," Luffy puffed his cheeks up. "I'm not interested."

"Luffy?" Sera raised her eyebrow. She wanted to know what Arlong had done to the unfortunate village.

"Imma take a walk," Luffy turned around and strolled back in the direction of the shattered ship.

"You're not going to listen?" Usopp shouted at his captain.

"No."

"What's… what's with him?" Nojiko leaned over to whisper to the other woman. Sera just shrugged, not entirely sure herself.

"Don't mine him. That's just the kind of guy he is," Zoro spoke up for the bluenette. Sera nodded her head knowing that the green-haired man had been around Luffy the longest. He would know. "We'll listen to what you have to say. Though I doubt it will change anything."

Nojiko sat down on the soft grass, taking in a deep breath. Sera followed her lead, correctly thinking that it would be a long and pain filled story. Her eyes glazed over as she started to speak of her past.

"My mother found the two of us in a war ridden village. We were orphans, so she took us in. We were poor, very poor, but we made due. Nami practiced her chart drawing and navigation skills and while my mother taught me how to grow tangerines, it was the only thing I was ever actually good at. We were still poor, but we were happy," the woman's short purple hair blew in the wind as she sighed. "But then Arlong came. Everyone had to pay a set price, a tax if you will, for our lives. Fifty thousand Beri per child, a hundred thousand Beri per adult. My mother only had a hundred thousand. She paid for our lives with hers." The woman paused, silently reliving her horrors as she spoke of her past, a past that many others on the island had lived.

"And?" The bluenette prodded, needing to know what else Arlong had done.

"And then Arlong had found a chart of Nami's. We would have been fine if he hadn't had seen the drawing. They took her and when she came back, she was wearing their tattoo and a debt of a hundred million Beri on her shoulders. Ever since then, she's been working it off." They sat in silence as the woman paused in the story of her past, letting the horrors sink in. "Do you have any idea how painful it was for her, to make that decision to fight alone and continue to live on, when she was barely 10 years old?"

"Nami-swan! I'll kill those pirates!"

Slam! Nojiko had punched Sanji's face.

"Argh, what was that for?" Sanji rubbed his sore injury.

"That's what I came to tell you," Nojiko explained. "If you guys continue spewing about how you're her friends, they're going to start suspecting Nami and damaging her 8 years of hard work. Don't make her suffer anymore."

"Hmm," Sera hummed, shaking her head at the other woman. "I'm sorry, Nojiko. Even if Luffy wasn't my captain, I can't let those pirates go."

"Yeah," a swordsman behind her spoke up, the rattling of his swords being heard behind her, "Luffy wants her as navigator, so we gotta have her."

Nojiko clenched her fists. "Please," her voice cracked, "Don't hurt her."

Sera placed her hand on the woman's shoulder, giving her a small, reassuring smile. "We won't. Luffy has everything covered. Trust me."

Nojiko grimaced but nodded. "I need to head back."

"Okay," Sera smiled at the woman's trust. "We'll get Luffy and head to the Park."

The bluenette watched the woman walk towards the village, ignoring the chattering of the men as she thought on the mistakes of Arlong, Jinbei, Tiger Fisher, and maybe even Neptune himself. Although could she blame them? The horrors the government and Celestial Dragons had put upon her—

"Ahh! That was a nice walk!" Sera turned to find a Luffy stretching out his body in a normal way. "Oi, guys. What are you guys standing around for? We should get going!"

"Oh, Luffy," Zoro looked up from his swords while Sanji and Usopp stood up, reading themselves for a fight of some kind. "We were just about to go out finding you."

"Of all people to try and find someone, it shouldn't be you, Zoro," Sera chided the swordsman, causing the man to flinch at her words. He faced her with a playful snarl.

"Ahahahahaha," Luffy smiled his classic D smile.

"Let's just go," Zoro grumbled, picking himself off the ground and gently pushing the woman forward with his hand on the small of her back.

"Zoro."

"What?" The man grumbled.

"We're supposed to go the other way."

"Tch."

* * *

Luffy had run ahead, quite literally at that, to find Nami faster in the village to try and prevent her from hurting herself even further. Because between leaving new friends and pretending to kill one of them on top of the Arlong drama, they knew she was feeling guilty.

And that's why they weren't completely concerned with seeing a bloody Nami on the ground and a silence, apathetic-looking Luffy watching the crying woman. They each took a seat a decent distance away from the two, wanting to give them as much privacy as they could with the situation. Sera sat next to Zoro on the weird looking bench, crossing her legs as she heard whimpering sobs. If it wasn't silent in the town, she would have never had heard the literal cries of help from the orangette.

"H— help me…."

Luffy took in a deep breath, picking up his hat and gently transferred it over to Nami's head. "Of course I will!"

Sera took this moment to stand up, dusting off her pants of dirt. Setting her bag on the bench, the woman ruffled through her bag for her First Aid kit, knowing the stupid men won't do anything— if they even know anything on first aid. To be honest, they were kind of moronic. Just jumping into fights, not caring how beaten up they get, getting their asses handed to them sometimes— cough, Zoro, cough—, they were like children. But it was fine, someone has to take care of them. And until they get a legitimate doctor, she guesses she'll have to do.

"Let's go," Luffy spoke up to the crew. "Sera."

The said woman looked up from her bag. "Luffy?"

"Take care of her," Luffy glanced at the woman and her kit. "When you're finished, join us."

"Yes, Luffy," Sera nodded with a gentle smile. Turning her back on the leaving men, she opened her kit for the gauze and stitches. Soft sobs echoed through the silent town. The bluenette truly did feel for the girl. She hadn't gone through what Nami had, but she still had her own demons. Her prepping finished, the woman called for the younger female. "Nami?" Seraphina was not expecting the flinch that Nami had given her. She tried again. "Nami?" Another flinch. "Nami, what's wrong?"

The younger female mumbled something under her breath, so low that the bluenette was unable to hear properly. "Nami, you need to speak—"

"It's the way you talk!"

Sera furrowed her brow in confusion at the still hunched over woman. She couldn't see her face, Nami's back was to her, but the younger female sounded angry. Why would someone be angry at the way someone talked? "I'm sorry. But I don't understand."

Nami's hands clenched even tighter at the woman's words. What does she mean she doesn't understand? Then again, Fishmen never understand. "It's your accent."

The bluenette's shoulders slumped. She understood now. Nami thought she was a Fishman like Arlong because of her accent. "I'm not a Fishman. The islands are close, that's why we share an accent."

Nami's form loosened, letting Sera be relieved with her quick thinking. Although it wasn't completely a lie, it was pretty close to one. This probably wouldn't be a good start to their friendship. She hopes it won't bite her in the butt later. "Come on, Nami. Let's get you healed."

The bloody teen caved in, dragging herself off the dirt floor and onto the bench. Letting the bluenette take over, the teen leaned back, flinching in pain instead of anger every time the beautiful blue haired woman closed up her self-inflicted wounds and used her disinfectant. Closing her eyes, Nami felt her arm finally be wrapped in the stark white gaze, the white a striking contrast to her red filled past.

"You're eyes…." The orangette trailed off.

"They're from my father's side," the woman responded to her new friend. Cutting the gaze and tapping the end down, she gently patted Nami on her other shoulder. "All finished."

Nami opened her eyes back to the world, smiling at the bluenette as Seraphina packed up her bag. "Let's go."

Together the two women bolted to the Sabaody Park imitator, rushing to get to the crew to make up for their lost time. Sera prayed to the ocean and the stars that Sanji and Zoro weren't too beaten up. Zoro was already pretty badly cut up from her father and who knows how much damage Gin did to Sanji. All in all, two of the four most powerful crew members— sorry Usopp— were badly injured. If they weren't careful, they could be killed.

They must have been getting closer, Sera could see a small gathering of villagers around a… hole in the wall. Who did that? Parting the way for the two Straw Hat crew members, the villagers revealed a blue skinned saw shark fishman standing in the rubble of Arlong Park. Sure enough, the fishman had a Sun Pirate tattoo on his chest and his Arlong Pirate tattoo on his lower forearm.

Sera scanned the area for her crew, spotting a fallen blond and Zoro. But where was Luffy? Shoving her bag in a random woman's arms, she dropped to her knees in the rubble, reaching Zoro first. He was the one who had gone up to Mihawk, after all. The bluenette, her hair falling out of her braid, leaned over the unconscious man, scanning his body for wounds. Her father's slice had reopened. She looked up to quickly scan the bloody blond from a small distance. Looks like he was beaten up pretty badly too.

"Arlong!" Nami shouted at the fishman, causing the said fishman to look from the bluenette to his navigator.

"Nami," Arlong purred, the Fishman Island accent coming through heavily as he smiled maliciously, showing off his white row of shark teeth. "Great timing. I was just about to kill these pirates. What brings you here?"

"I came here to kill you!"

It started as a light scoff that slowly built to a full on laugh. "You can't kill me!" Arlong opened up his arms to the villagers. "How many times have you tried to kill me?" Arlong kept laughing, not realizing that at least one of them there could kill him. "I'm not going to let you go," Arlong growled at the navigator. "But I'm nice. I'll give you a deal. Work for me willingly and I'll spare the people, not the pirates of course, but everyone else. If you don't, I'll kill everyone else in the village but you. So are you with me?"

Nami's eyes wavered to the bluenette and her crew. She spun around to the villagers, a smile on her face. "I'm sorry, everyone. But would you please die with me?"

Sera ignored the villagers' cheers as she softly spoke to the stirring man in her arms. "Zoro, are you okay? Where's Luffy?"

"Ugh," the man groaned, "Stuck in cement in the water."

Seraphina's eyes widened. What the fuck? It would be no problem to get in there to Luffy, but what the fuck? How did he get into that? She opened her mouth in response only to be cut off by a large water spout bursting behind a wall.

"It worked," Sanji moaned next to Zoro. "Now all we have to do is free his legs!"

Sera looked between the two men, completely and utterly confused on what had happened to Luffy. Zoro tried sitting up again to only be pushed down by the golden eyed woman. Gripping her wrist, Zoro whispered to the obnoxious cook and Seraphina, "I can last 30 seconds."

Sanji nodded and without another word jumped into the water while the woman's eyes widened in understanding. Pushing the green-haired man down, she stood up and faced Arlong. "No, I can do it."

"Sera!" Zoro grabbed her wrist again.

"Zoro, I can last longer. I'm not injured." _At least, not too much._ She shook off the swordsman's hands and bolted towards the distracted fishman. Her hand blacking again, the woman slashed at Arlong's face, cutting a thin line of red on his cheek. The fishman's eyes slide over to the woman as she jumped back from her attack. His eyes quickly flitted over her body, pausing on her blue hair as he scanned her posture.

"If it weren't for your eyes," the fishman growled, "I would have mistaken you for your whore mother, Sabrina."

"My mother is no more a whore than yours, Arlong," Seraphina spat out, causing the fishman pirate to see red. He lashed out at the young woman, balling his hands into fists as he punched the ground where she once stood. Sera predicted his movement and jumped out of the way of Arlong's fists. She decided to prod at the fishman even more. "You know, even Fisher Tiger would have been disappointed in you!"

"Do not speak to me of disappointment when your entire people have betrayed us!" Arlong swung a fist toward the woman. She caught it in her hand, expecting his brute force as he pushed down on her. Swinging another fist at her, the woman caught his other fist, starting a duel between strengths. A duel that the woman would lose if continued for too long. Shaking under his strength even with the assistance of her haki, Sera sneered at the man.

"My people have never betrayed the Fishman Island!" The bluenette screamed in anger at the shark fishman. "It is people like you: the ones who get consumed by their hatred and continue to fuel the anger and violence!"

"People like me?" Arlong sneered in the woman's face, his spit flying as he continued to overwhelm the smaller woman with his force. "Tell me: have you even told your so-called friends who you are? The people you belong to?"

Seraphina grimaced, shaking harder under the fishman's pressure as another sneer grew on the pirate's face when he realized she wouldn't answer. "They don't need—"

"WAHHHH!" A loud splash came from behind the bluenette as a wet, rubber captain sprang up from behind a wall. Flipping in the air, Luffy spread out his limbs and shouted. "I'm back!"

"Oh thank god," Sera whispered to herself, knowing full well that Luffy could kick this fucker's ass.

"PHINIE!" Luffy shouted to the blue haired woman. He stretched out his arms to fully wrap around the female, his still wet arms sliding over her as he squeezed the poor woman's body. The woman tensed up from his movements, sensing something unpleasant about to happen because of the young captain. With another shout from her captain, Luffy shot forward to the bluenette, hitting her hard on her back as Arlong jumped back from the two Straw Hats. Hearing a cry from Seraphina, Luffy took the moment to finally address her. "Ahh, Phinie. Sorry, sorry."

"Luffy…." The woman moaned in pain as Luffy removed himself. She was going to hate Luffy's stretching, that much she could tell. Luffy used his pistol punch to temporarily in capitate the fishman pirate— sending him deep into the concrete building. Satisfied for now, Luffy turned back to the woman.

"Ahh… sorry," Luffy rubbed the back of his head with his classic D smile. He gestured to the now standing Zoro— well, if you could call it standing. The swordsman was currently leaning on his sheathed sword, his blood dripping down his body. There was so much blood, you couldn't find out where it came from if you tried. "Fix him up, will ya?"

Sera smiled at the raven-haired boy. "Of course, Captain."

"Thanks, Phinie!"

Seraphina patted her captain on the shoulder, carefully jumping over the rubble to get to the bloody swordsman who continued to struggle to get up. Listening to Luffy's shouts and Arlong's growls in the background, Sera snaked her arm around Zoro's bloody abdomen; she did not like how bloody he was. He should not have fought so hard. Did he know how much blood he lost? Zoro rested his arm over her shoulder, spreading more of his crimson blood over her clothes, as he let himself lean into the woman as he gripped his remaining sword in his other hand.

The duo made their way over to the crowd, blood dripping into a trail of maroon as the crowd separated for the pair. Someone undistinguishable handed Sera her bag to allow the woman to continue on her way to the nearby body of water as Johnny and Yosaku followed after; only Nami decided to stay and watch Luffy. Laying down Zoro on the softer grass, Sera dropped down her bag and pulled out her kit, realizing that she might be doing a lot of stitching later on.

"Big Sis! How is he?" Johnny asked the woman, his eyes franticly looking between the two.

"He should be fine," Sera leaned over the green-haired man to push off his shirt. The swordsman closed his eyes and let the woman take over, his trust strong in the woman. After pulling off his bloody belly warmer, the woman used his blue shirt to wipe up the clotting blood, needing clean skin for the stitches. Tossing the bloody fabric at the two idiots, she went back to her work. Pulling her needle and other instruments from the dwindling kit, the woman quickly stitched up Zoro, noticing how he never flinched to her stiches and wrapped him up in gauze to finish her rudimentary work. It was shitty. She wasn't going to lie, but it was to keep him from dying on the spot. "You're good."

Opening his eyes to the sound of her voice, Zoro nodded and picked himself off from the ground as the woman cleaned up her— Zoro's— mess. Still clutching his sword, the man helped the woman off the ground as Johnny and Yosaku ran back to tell Nami of Zoro's status. "Thank you."

"Anything to help a crew member," the bluenette smiled back, swinging her bag over her shoulders. "We should head back."

Zoro grunted in response as Sera headed off towards the cheering crowd. Luffy must have won then, the woman dually noted, passing by the other villagers as she made her way to the orangette. Hearing Luffy's classic "shishi" laugh, the bluenette smiled. He was fine. Or at least okay enough to laugh. Luffy was cheering with the crowd, his excitement growing off the others as he bounced around. Her captain smiled even wider when he saw Seraphina. "Shishishi. Phinie! There you are!"

"Luff—"

"That's enough celebrating!" A ratty looking man shouted out over the people from behind the golden-eyed woman. "Since Arlong is no longer in the picture, all the riches now belong to me! And even better, I'll get the credit over Arlong's defeat!"

Sera turned around to face the wiry man. She frowned at the marine, getting annoyed when he ignored her presence. Pulling her fist back, not even bothering to coat her appendage, she swung hard into the man's face. The nearby marines immediately cocked their guns at her as their boss's face was smashed into the dirt, some shaking in fear as they saw the swordsman behind the woman. The rat man lifted himself from off the ground, turning to scream more words at the woman when he zeroed in on her eyes. His body froze up, going rigid as the infamous golden eyes stared him down.

"Dra— Dracule…."

"Hey, Sera," Zoro called out, the rat man's eyes going from the woman to Zoro and back again. "You want some help?"

"Hey! We were having fun! Now you ruined it!" Luffy shouted, moving close to his musician as he waved his skinny arms around.

"Hey, Luffy," Usopp whispered to the said boy, "those are the guys that were threatening Nami earlier."

Luffy's eyes narrowed, never liking it when he hears someone hurts his friends. The captain slammed his fist into his other hand. "You don't hurt my friends."

 **Oof. The Arlong Park Arc only took on chapter. Oh well, that brings me to my next thing. REVIEWS!**

 **To Eos Raidekin: I'm totally going to skip some scenes that aren't necessary for her. I'm mainly going to stick to Seraphina's point of view because, I mean, everyone already knows what is canon. Thank you for your critique!**


	5. The Ocean's Discovery

**Please review! Your feedback helps.**

Seraphina let the warm, soapy water roll over her body, taking away the mixed blood from her body and leaving her skin clear and refreshed after that bloody beating up of the marine and his henchmen. Hopefully they'll never met the ratty man again. Sera reminded herself to gather supplies for the journey, but for now, she'll just take this bath. She would be fine in the water as long as it didn't get above her knees. And it was a good thing the doctor in this village had showers. Dr. Nako, the village's doctor, had let the Straw Hats stay in his clinic— in the nurse's rooms— while the village was celebrating the end of Arlong's reign. Luffy had wanted to leave immediately for the Grand Line, but when he heard there was going to be meat… well, you can imagine what he said.

"Gahh…!" Someone shouted nearby.

 _What the hell was that?_ Sera thought to herself. The old shower knob creaked as she turned the water off. Pulling a towel off from a rack, the woman wrapped the grey fabric around her slim body, making sure to securely tuck the towel corner into her wrapping. Blue hair still wet, the woman scrambled around the small shower room to realize that her clean clothes were missing.

"Gahh…!"

 _Was that… Zoro?_ Sera— slightly angry at herself at her stupid mistake— opened the door anyway, thinking that Zoro had already seen her naked anyway and that the doctor wouldn't care since he was a doctor. What she wasn't expecting was Luffy.

"Ah! Phinie!" Luffy smiled at the reddening half-naked woman; Zoro gritting his teeth and turning his head towards the distraction. She didn't want to flash her captain. "We weren't expecting you!"

"Uhh… I wasn't expecting you either, Luffy," Sera walked over to her bag, pulling out a short, loose summer dress. Slipping on the dress without showing off her goods to her captain in the way only women knew how, Sera started to dry her hair with the grey towel as Zoro watched the loose fabric brush against her smooth thighs. "Who was that groaning earlier?"

"Oh," the doctor laughed; he had dealt with many tough looking men who didn't handle pain well. "It was this tough looking guy."

Sera frowned. "You didn't groan when I was stitching you up."

"So you were the one who shoddily patched up this idiot boy!" Dr. Nako sent the woman a questioning look. As a doctor, he did not appreciate the shitty patch work; it was human life you were working with.

"Sorry, but it was just meant for him to not die on the spot," the woman responded sheepishly at the old doctor. She set down the damp towel when her hair was mostly dry, or at least not dripping everywhere. She twirled herself to the bed next to Zoro to rummage around into her bag, accidently flashing her backside to a watching Zoro who moaned in response. His moan was mistaken for pain as the doctor shook his head at the boy.

"I didn't even touch you that time, you youngin'."

"Shishishishi!"

Sera ignored the trio, slipping on her traditional jewelry. "Luffy?"

"Ah, yes, Phinie?"

"We should get a doctor soon, though," Sera gave her input to her captain, fixing her rings onto her fingers.

"Hmm, that's a good idea. We do have a musician now, so I guess we could get a doctor now."

"Why do we need a musician anyway, Luffy?" Zoro moaned as Nako put in another stitch.

"Cause we're pirates! We gotta sing!"

Sera sweatdropped, still not believing the stupidity of her captain. "That doesn't make sense, Luffy."

"Of course, it does!" Her captain pouted at her. "Pirates sing!"

"Luffy, not all pir—"

"PHINA!" Someone shouted outside the clinic for her. She mentally groaned to herself. She didn't want to celebrate; she just wanted to get out of here and rest. She wasn't the one who had the crap beat out of her, but she didn't want to stay after seeing Arlong. Seeing that sun mark brought up old, scarred memories that she didn't want to deal with right now, especially since she just joined a brand-new crew. She was planning on just going over to the ship and settle in, but her crew had other thoughts on their minds. Usopp popped his head in with a smile on his face. "Hey Phina! Let's go visit the barbeque stands! I hear they have good meats!"

"MEAT!" Luffy shouted out to no one in particular, shooting out his arms in the air and jumping off his seat. He bolted out the door, the wind moving the fabric of Sera's skirt around her thighs.

"Luffy!" And with that, he was gone. She would learn to expect that, but for now, she guesses that she'll just have a party and get drunk. Pulling out a pair of panties from her bag, she slipped them over her creamy legs and threw her bag under a bed, leaning over as she did so.

"Gghh…."

"Would you stop groaning like a pussy?" The doctor admonished the tough swordsman. "Damn, I don't think I've ever seen a guy like you bitch and whine this much."

Sera rolled her eyes at the man. Men couldn't handle pain, she scoffed to herself, not knowing what Zoro would later have to deal with. She left the groaning man to the doctor, wanting to catch up with Usopp and Luffy. She hated eating fish, but she did like red meat. And wine. Especially wine. It was a taste she had picked up from her father.

"Usopp!" Seraphina waved her hand, gesturing for the long-nosed man near a meat stand. Their sniper waved back at her, a wide grin on his face as he nudged a munching Luffy.

"Oh," Luffy distracted himself from his meat as he noticed the bluenette walking his way. "Phinie! It's about time!"

"Luffy, don't eat too much," the woman admonished her captain. "You'll get a stomach ache."

"Shishishi, no I won't!" Luffy bit into his meat chunk, stuffing his mouth with the well-seasoned meat. He looked like a chipmunk. Aww….

Someone tapped Sera on the shoulder, handing out a sealed wine bottle. Sera grinned. Hey, she loves wine. Let's get boozed! "Want some booze, ma'am?"

"Yes, thank you!" Seraphina yelled over the shouts and music, reaching for the bottle. The man gave it to her after popping off the seal and walked off, offering more wine to the other villagers. Not bothering for a wine glass, she took a swig of the drink, letting the fruity flavor run down her slim throat. She glanced at the bottle. Tangerine wine. Huh, what do you know? It was pretty good. As she downed more of the tangerine wine, Sera never took notice of how dark it had slowly gotten. She moved around with the people, dancing and rubbing bodies with the music.

"Sera!" Someone shouted her name. She turned towards the source of the voice, seeing Zoro and Sanji sitting down in an alley. Strolling over to the two men, she grabbed another bottle from nearby and leaned against the wall Sanji was sitting against. She smiled at the two.

"Yes, gentlemen?" The woman purred at the two, ignoring the hearts Sanji had in his eyes. She was used to it now. Zoro smirked into his beer. He glossed his eyes over the woman's figure, appreciating the way her body moved.

"Ah, Sera," Sanji spoke, lighting up his classic cigarette. "We were just speaking of how you two met."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Sanji nodded. "I didn't know you were a bar maid. You seem so sophisticated."

"My mother raised me with an education befitting of a queen," Sera laughed, noticing the way Zoro scanned her body. "I've—"

"SANJI!" Luffy shoved himself into the conversation. Literally. He knocked Sera from her position on the wall and into Zoro's lap. Zoro moved his beer out of the way of the woman, not spilling a drip. Her wine, however, was unfortunate. The alcohol spilt onto his shirt, staining the white fabric a watery red. "The melon meat! Where did you find it?!"

"Luffy!" Zoro and Sera moaned simultaneously.

"I don't know. The whole town is a buffet party," Sanji removed his cigarette to speak. It wasn't needed. Luffy was already gone. "Eh, well I'm done. I'll go pick up some ladies."

Sanji himself bolted off to a willing group of women. Zoro took a final swig of his drink, temporarily ignoring the feeling of the woman on top of him as she squirmed her body as his own head began to get fuzzy, something he thought wouldn't happen. The cool wine kept seeping into the white shirt as Sera whimpered.

"My wine…."

Zoro smirked at the bluenette and set down his empty mug. "Why don't we get some more?"

"Hmm, okay," the woman sighed, still upset over her spilt drink. Her head was beginning to spin, but she wanted more wine. It was good wine. She felt Zoro's arms wrap around her midsection, lifting her up as she let herself be supported by the man. "Zoro, maybe we should get you a new shirt."

"Yeah, I guess," he returned in his gruff voice, directing the woman back towards the clinic where they had their clothes stashed. She leaned into him more, clutching his arm as her breasts rubbed into him. Zoro peered down on her when he felt her nipples through the sheer fabric. "Hey?"

"Zoro?" Sera purred. The loud music continued on in the background. Zoro unlocked the clinic door, gently pushing in the woman.

"You wanna fuck again?"

Sera stopped in her tracks, shocked at what she just heard. He was straight forward. She looked up at him, her face full of seriousness. "Zoro, I liked our time together, but I have made it a strict rule of mine to _never_ screw the same man twice. And besides, we're going to be crew members. Don't you think that wouldn't be a good idea?"

"Going to be? We already are," Zoro retorted, closing the door with a soft click. "We can just be benefits, if ya want."

"Like friends with benefits?"

"Yup," Zoro slipped off his shirt, tossing the stained apparel into the bathroom, mentally making a note to clean it later. The exposed parts of his chest glistened with beads of sweat and smaller beads of the tangerine wine. Luckily, the wine hadn't gotten on his bandages.

Seraphina licked her lips at the site, then paused when she realized something. "Aren't you supposed to be healing?"

"Eh?" Zoro looked at her with confusion on his face.

"What do you mean 'eh?'" Sera's eyes widened. _Was this guy an idiot?_ "Your wound?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Why—" Sera stuttered. He was a buffoon! "Cause it could hurt you even more!"

"Then, we'll just take it slow," Zoro patted her head.

 _Like this guy knows the meaning of slow,_ Sera thought to herself, folding her arms over her plump chest, unknowingly pushing the mounds up. Zoro laid down on the bed, pushing the pillow out from under his head.

"Have you ever sat on someone's face?"

Sera blinked at him. "No."

"Well," Zoro smirked at her. "There's a first time for everything."

"I guess there is," Sera smirked back at him, pulling down her panties and tossing them to the side as she made her way over to Zoro. Balancing herself as to not completely smother Zoro, she gripped the headboard and swung her leg over his shoulder. He reached up, resting his hands on her thighs as she lowered herself down. "I don't want to suffocate y—oooohhhh…."

Zoro took a long lick of her pussy, loving the way his tongue slid deep into her as he pushed inside. He had oral sex a few times before, but what surprised him was how sweet she tasted. It wasn't how like sugar was sweet. No, it was a more natural sweetness, not too sweet so that he wouldn't like it, but sweet enough. Like the sweetest fruit anyone could eat. And Zoro wanted to eat out the woman on top of him for as long as she would let him.

"Oh," the bluenette above him panted. "Oh, Roronoa Zoro."

The swordsman dipped his tongue back in and explored her sweet cavern, his own member getting harder as Seraphina purred his name. He pulled out his tongue before making sure to take another obscenely long lick, going around her inner labia. With a gentle nip on her clit, Zoro extracted a small gasp from the woman. Her hand went down into familiar green hair.

"Zoro, not too hard."

He responded with another gentle bite followed by him sucking on her clit. Her own response was another moan and her hands tightening on his hair; although truthfully, every movement of Zoro's elicited a moan from her. His skilled tongue sent waves of pleasure throughout her body. She's received oral but never this good!

Zoro could feel her walls tightening; she was getting close— if her whimpers couldn't tell you. Still, he continued with his work, wanting to make her cum onto his face harder than she had before with oral. He went wild when her walls clenched around his tongue, squeezing and spasming around him in a familiar way.

"Oh the stars," Seraphina moaned in her song-like voice, moving her hips to get a better access to Zoro's tongue as she orgasmed. Zoro smirked under the quivering woman, lapping up her sweet juices as she reached her release. "Aahhh…."

Coming down from her high, Seraphina released her hold on the man's hair, carefully removing her still dripping self from above him. She eyed Zoro's large bulge. Could she take all of him? Well, they'll find out. Moving herself from his face to his lower regions, she pushed the swordsman back down onto the bed when he attempted to sit up. Zoro watched her slim fingers pull up her long blue hair into a sleek ponytail.

Tugging on his tight pants, she pulled the clothing down his waist, taking notice of how Zoro went commando under his pants. She raised an eyebrow at him, only to be responded to with his own raised eyebrow.

"Have you ever sucked off someone?" Zoro smirked.

"Yes," Seraphina rolled her eyes, silently appreciating the way Zoro harsh breathed in as she grabbed his erect cock. "Have you?"

"No," Zoro lightly flicked her forehead with his fingers, eliciting a small giggle from the bluenette.

"Shocker," Sera teased, her own smirk growing on her face.

"Hey— mmhh," Zoro's words were quickly muffled by his own moans as the woman dragged her tongue from his base to the tip of his cock. Hands flew into her hair as she pulled back to lick her lips, dragging her head back down to his member.

"My lord, I don't think I've ever met someone as impatient as you," Sera's words were mumbled together as she placed her lips on the tip of Zoro's cock, gently sucking as the swordsman's breathing grew harder. She needed to watch him so his wounds don't open again. That would be an awkward conversation with the doctor.

She used her hands to gently squeeze his balls, pulling out moans from the green haired man as he kept a steady hand in her hair, tugging when she sucked the right way. Growing tired of her little teasing, the man pushed her head down onto him, causing the bluenette to gag on the unexpected movement. His cock thick in her mouth, the woman lightly dragged her teeth over his member, taking in his sharp breaths and hard grunts as she started responding to his wordless demands.

Bobbing her head, she could start tasting his precum, a unique flavor of saltiness with a hint of steel. It wasn't that surprising considering it was Zoro. His hands tightened in her hair, tugging gently as she continued to move her head down his cock. He was getting close; she could feel him tighten inside her mouth and his groans started becoming louder.

"Shut up," Seraphina said, her words being muffled by the large object hindering her mouth. "Someone might hear us."

"You were louder," Zoro pushed her down again, holding in a moan as she continued with her bobbing. He could feel his balls tighten as her warm lips surrounded his member. With his hands wrapped up in her hair and a muffled grunt coming from Zoro's lips, he came inside her mouth with only a small squeak of surprise from the bluenette. "Nnhh."

She backed off, swallowing his salty cum, and gently wiped off any remaining residue. The bluenette watched the swordsman pull up his pants as she reached around for her panties. Finding her discarded apparel, she slipped the clothing over her sex and twirled back to the man. "We should head out before someone notices that we're gone."

"Eh," Zoro shrugged, leaning back against the headboard as he rested his hands behind his head. He was still shirtless. "I'm just going to stay here and get some sleep."

Sera nodded her head. "Would you like for me to bring you back anything?"

"Nah," Zoro drawled out, yawning at the end. "Just enjoy yourself."

"Alright then," Sera threw over her shoulder as she headed back out into the night, going off to find one of her crewmates to spend the rest of the night with.

* * *

"I'm calling about an urgent request!" A rat man marine screamed into a poor den-den mushi. "Listen! There's a straw-hat wearing pirate captain by the name of 'Luffy' along with a woman who calls herself 'Dracule Sera!'"

"Dr— Dracule…." The other person stuttered over the den-den mushi, not liking were the conversation was going.

"Not only have they defeated Arlong," the rat man continued without acknowledging the other man's outburst, "but they are violent in nature. I request a bounty to be placed on both of their heads. We're sending you their pictures."

An adorable looking seventeen-year-old popped up over the scanner, a wide smile on the boy's face. It hardly seemed violent or aggressive. No one would even have considered the kid to be a pirate if the Marines hadn't sent the picture all over the world with his bounty. Same with the golden-eyed woman. Although if people had known her lineage, they would have expected it from her. The name they printed under her picture— incorrect as it was— would not help her at all in the long run, but she would have to deal with it.

 _Dracule Sera._

* * *

She awoke to the sunlight shining on her face, the bright, warm beams resting across her drowsy face as the woman stirred herself from the still sleeping Usopp. Removing herself from the sleeping mass of villagers, the woman drifted off towards the clinic, covering her delicate eyes from the sharp intensity of sun. Sera sighed. She shouldn't have drunk that much. With her head pounding from last night's frivolities, she made her way inside the clinic, rubbing her eyes of the sleepiness.

Passing a still snoring Zoro, Seraphina found her bag under the bed she had left it under. Taking out her other clothing, she stripped herself from her dirty clothes and slipped on her more traditional clothing: the black corset and white blouse. With her own personal items back, Sera decided to make her way to the ship, hoping someone responsible would be there. Slowly making her way to the shore that Nami had said it was going to be docked on last night, she sighed in relief to find the cute little figurehead of the lamb sitting gently on the water.

"Sera-swama!"

"Sanji!" Seraphina's eyes narrowed in on the speaker: the blond chef of the Straw Hats. Giving the man a beaming smile in return, the woman climbed on the Merry Go and set her bags down onto the deck, opting to help Sanji with the ropes. With a few tugs and pulls on the ropes, the bluenette heard the pattering of footsteps along the shore. She quickly tied her rope and walked over to the railing. A green haired man was climbing up the ladder.

"Ah! It's the swordsman," Sanji came up from behind her, leaning over the edge to peer at his crewmember. "Hey! Zoro!"

Zoro looked up from his climbing. "Huh?"

"We need more provisions," Sanji yelled down to the swordsman as he lit a cigarette. "It's honestly surprising how you guys didn't starve to death."

Sera raised her eyebrow at this. _They aren't seriously this incompetent_ , she thought to herself. With Luffy as a captain was enough, but this level of stupidity, especially on the Grand Line will get someone killed. Or everyone! It's Luffy, let's not underestimate him.

"Thankfully," Sera spoke up, "the villagers gave us some provisions for the journey to Loguetown."

"Oh, those're the supplies," Zoro started back down the ladder, turning his head as he heard the sounds of running. It was the mechanic of the crew, his long nose sweating from his exhaustion as he ran towards the boat, waving his arm around sporadically in his greeting. "Ah, Usopp. Just in time."

"Ju— just in— in time," Usopp panted, coming to stop near the shore, "in time for what?"

"To load up the ship." You could see Usopp internally die when he heard those words. Loading up the ship meant heavy lifting; lifting with muscles that Usopp didn't have. Usopp groaned, his shoulders sinking as he realized his fate.

"Let's just make an assembly line," Seraphina offered to her crew.

"An assembly line?" Zoro questioned.

"Yeah," Usopp spoke up, recovering from his run. "You know, one person has one job that he or she repeats. It will speed up the amount of time that we take packing up the ship."

"Alright," Zoro shrugged his shoulders, jumping down to the stacked crates muttering something about weak muscles. Sera rolled her eyes but followed after the green-haired man. She picked up crates and passed them to the swordsman, letting him carry the heavy crates all the way to the deck for Usopp to take over. They were nearly finished when a shouting captain made his way over to the ship.

"Hey guys!" Luffy waved his bare arms, a beaming smile on his face as he called out to the crew, stopping near his musician. "You guys started without me!"

"There's a reason why," Zoro muttered mostly to himself. "You would have doubled our loading time."

Seraphina smiled, her laughter ringing out as she caught wind of the swordsman's mutter. It was true though. Luffy's destructive nature would have at least doubled their time in loading the ship; who knows what he would have destroyed. Their captain must have heard something from Zoro. With his stretchy cheeks puffing out, Luffy pouted at his first mate, a frown on his face. Sera laughed harder. She liked her crew; they were lighthearted but also serious when they needed to be.

"Just get on board, Luffy." Sera smiled at her captain. "Try to help Sanji with something."

Luffy smiled his classic D grin. With a hand on his hat, her captain stretched his arm up over the ship railing and pulling himself up with his devil fruit powers. And with more crashing sounds and a scream that sounded like it came from Usopp, Sera's smile fell as she realized she probably should have made Luffy get onto the ship the normal way. Oh well.

Sera handed the first mate the last crate, ignoring the shouting and bangs coming from atop the ship. As long as Luffy didn't completely destroy the Merry Go, she's fine with Luffy's antics. "That's the last one."

The swordsman nodded, lifting the heavy box from her delicate hands and climbing up the rope ladder. By this time, the entire village had gathered around, watching their saviors' movements. After Zoro had safely made his way on board, the barmaid made her way up, catching tidbits of the conversation on her way.

"Where is she anyways?" The Straw Hat mechanic spoke, looking out into the distance as he questioned the location of Luffy's navigator.

"Maybe she's not coming?" Zoro leaned back to rest against the ship railing.

"Huh?!" Sanji snapped his head over to the swordsman, a glare in his eyes. "You didn't make another pass at Nami-san again, didn't you?!"

"Why would I do that? She's not my type."

"Oh?" Sera raised her eyebrow, teasing the swordsman. "And what is your type?"

"Not blonds, that's for sure." Sera laughed at his words, noticing the way Sanji clenched his fists and readied himself for more screaming at Zoro. Opening her mouth for a retort, she was abruptly cut off by a certain navigator.

"Set sail!" The entire crew raced to the rails, leaning over as they all spotted familiar orange hair racing towards the Merry. Sera looked to Luffy. The captain shrugged, commanding the rest of the crew to release the sails and pull up the anchor. Working together like the right notes in a song, the crew pushed the ship forward, waiting for their dramatic navigator. The musician raised her eyebrows when she saw Nami getting close to the edge, weaving her way in and out of the villagers as they pulled and grasped for their precious savior, all in naught. With a great leap, Nami reached the Merry. Not skipping a beat, the Straw Hat navigator pulled up her shirt— to Sanji's delight— and let her spoils drop to the ship deck. "Take care!"

"Oh," Sera said as she watched all the colorful wallets spill out onto the deck. She'll have to watch out for the greedy woman. With more goodbye waves, the bluenette headed back into the ship.

Luffy laughed at Nami's antics. "So where are we going, Nami?—"

The captain was cut off by the sound of Usopp's loud yawn. The mechanic was met with a pout. "What? I'm tired."

"Don't interrupt me!" Luffy huffed.

"Hey," Usopp pointed a finger at his captain. "You interrupt everyone else all the time!"

"SO!?" Luffy shouted back.

"Hey, Sanji," Nami called out for the chef, overhearing Luffy's and Usopp's conversation.

Sanji popped his head out from the kitchen with hearts in his eyes. "Yes, Nami-swan?"

"Can you make coffee, or do you just do food?"

"Well, I can, but to be honest, Sera-swama is better at that than me," Sanji responded, his seriousness coming back to him.

"Really?" Nami tilted her head.

Sanji nodded his head. "She told Zeff that she was also a barista. I think she does pretty much everything with drinks."

"I didn't know that about her."

"Oh! Cool," Usopp joined in on the two crewmates. "I like coffee!"

"Ooo!" Luffy bounced over to the trio. "What does coffee taste like?"

Sanji raised a brow at Luffy. "You've never had coffee?"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Like he needs it."

"Come on," Usopp smiled, excited for another day with his growing crew. "Let's get some coffee!"

"PHINIE!" Luffy bounced up and down, stretching his arms across the ship and landing inside the kitchen shouting for his musician. He looked around for his musician, noticing that she wasn't in the room already. "Phinie?"

"Luffy, you idiot," Nami shook her head. "She's in the woman's room. I told her she could borrow my bathing suits until she got her own last time. She's probably just changing right now. We'll have to wait for her."

"Sera-swama? In a bathing suit?" Sanji's eyes broke out into hearts again, although this time his arms started to wiggle. "I can't wait to see her!"

Nami swung her hand down on the chef's head, quickly annoyed by his perverseness. A loud shriek alerted the remaining crew to attention. With a quick scan of the room, the navigator noticed a certain straw hat wearing captain missing. The remaining trio bolted, recognizing the owner of the shriek, and sprinted off towards the women's room.

"That idiot better not have hurt Sera-swama," Sanji growled to no one in particular as they ran to the barista.

"Luffy, what the hell?!" A gruff voice reached the trio's ears.

 _What was Zoro doing in the women's room?_ A single thought ran through everyone's heads.

"I want coffee!" A shouted followed Zoro's questions with a small muffle responding to the captain's response.

The remaining crew bust through the door, revealing a comical scene of a half bandaged Zoro holding up a squirming Luffy with a bikini clad bluenette hiding behind the swordsman. Sanji stopped in his tracks, admiring the way the bubble gum pink swimsuit clung to the bluenette's skin. Usopp headed over to the captain, taking the still squirming Luffy out of Zoro's hand. He grunted under the unexpected weight of the raven-haired boy and slowly shuffled to the ladder.

Nami bonked the captain on the head and frowned at him. "I told you to wait!"

"But I don't wanna!" Luffy sprawled out in Usopp's struggling hands. "I want it now!"

"Want what now?" Sera pulled up her fallen bikini strap that was misplaced during Luffy's attack.

"Coffee!"

"You want coffee?" Zoro narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Since when have you liked coffee?"

Luffy pouted at his first mate.

"Alright, Luffy," Seraphina sighed. "Just let me rebandage Zoro and I'll get started."

"Yay!" Luffy bounced out of Usopp's hands, flinging out of the women's room and out onto the top deck. "I'm going to get coffee!"

* * *

"It tastes awful!" Luffy kept pouting as he stared at the offending drink before him. It was a simple mixture of coffee and cream with dashes of sugar.

"It does take a sophisticated palate to like coffee," Nami smirked at Luffy with her iced coffee in hand.

"I don't know what that means!"

Nami stuck out her tongue at him after standing up and heading out the kitchen.

"I figured you wouldn't like it," Seraphina set down a fruit smoothie in front of her captain as she took away the coffee from her captain. Luffy licked his lips and bolted out the room with his smoothie in hand. _He doesn't need any more energy._

Usopp came back into the kitchen, handing a newspaper to the bluenette. "Here's the paper you wanted. Did he like it?"

"Of course not," Sera responded, finishing off Luffy's discarded coffee as she reached for the paper. "I don't even know why you guys decided to convince him to try it."

"Uh…" Usopp sheepishly smiled.

Seraphina rolled her eyes at her crew's antics. Looking down at the newspaper, she caught something on the headlines.

 _SOUTH BLUE PIRATE EUSTASS KIDD REACHES THE GRANDLINE_

 _The Kidd Pirates, with a total bounty of 140,000 Beri, just recently set sail for the Grand Line with their brutal captain, Eustass Kidd. With a bounty of 100,000 Beri, Kidd will arrive in the Grand Line with a reasonably large bounty already on his head compared to other Grand Line rookies. Known for his brutal tendencies, this pirate is to be feared and avoided on the seas._

 _The Kidd Pirate's jolly roger consists of a flaming red-haired skull surrounded by red flames. Marine headquarters highly recommends citizens stay away from ships bearing this jolly roger and to leave bounty hunting to experienced hunters for these pirates._

 _"There have been many attempts on capturing this bounty," Marine Commodore Tanaka. "Almost all end the hunters' death and if not, capture. We have not been able to recover any bodies and it is highly recommended to leave the Kidd Pirates to the Marines or other experience Pirate Hunters. The Marines will handle the Kidd Pirate situation."_

 _The first mate of the Kidd Pirates is known to—_

"Hey, Phina?"

The said woman looked up from her reading, raising her eyebrow at the mechanic in front of her. "Yes?"

"What was the black stuff on your arm before? I saw you use it with Arlong."

"Black stuff?" Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "You mean haki?"

"Yeah, whatever that was," Usopp awkwardly scratched the back of his head, shifting in place. "It looked like it really helped you when you were fighting, and I was wondering if you could help me…."

"Of course," Seraphina smiled at him.

"To get stronger of course. I—I don't want to let those monsters do everything. And I know that Nami isn't the strongest, so wh— when the other guys aren't there, I want to make sure that I can protect her when needed—"

"Yes, of course."

"I'm not saying that— that women are weak. I know that y— you're really strong. That's why I'm a—asking y—"

"Usopp!"

"Uh? Yeah?" Usopp quickly shut up, although he was still shaking in his spot.

"I said 'of course,'" Seraphina smiled. He could be quite brave. "Do you know what kind of haki you wanted to work on first?"

The look on Usopp's face did not look good to her. "Uh…."

"Do you know any haki?" Usopp shook his head. "Oh, well. There's three types: Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki. Most people can't use Conqueror's Haki and you said you wanted to be stronger—" Usopp nodded at this "— so we'll start you off with Armament Haki. It's the haki I used against Arlong. It allows you to coat haki in weapons or yourself to give a stronger attack, especially against Devil Fruit users."

"So how do we start?"

She gave him a look. "Well, you need to start on working your body. It requires an already existing strength of which you don't have."

Usopp's face fell. "I don't like working out."

"It'll be fine," Seraphina waved her hand at Usopp's ridiculousness. "We'll work on it together."

"Okay, so what exercise do I do first?"

"A hundred pushups," Seraphina deadpanned, taking the newspaper and heading out onto the sunny deck in order to get better space for Usopp's work out.

"A hundred?!" Usopp's jaw dropped at her words. "That's so hard! I'll take forever."

"Well, get used to it," Seraphina shrugged, sitting down at a pool chair. She leaned back, slipping on a pair of sunglasses that had been sitting between her breasts, and settled down. Usopp was going to take a while. "Wake me up when you get finished."

"You're awful!"

 **A little shorter chapter for today.**


	6. The Ocean's Adventure

**Please review! Your feedback helps.**

She was sleeping, dreaming of fish swimming a wide, beautiful blue gem. The light reflected off the crystal, shattering into millions of tiny blue pieces that sprayed into the woman's face. The pieces were smooth, gliding down her body like liquid, dripping onto the clear surface of the ocean while gentle waves swayed her further into her coma. The ocean whispered her name like a soft lullaby to her ears. Pushing its calling to the back of her mind, the woman focused in on the rocking, wishing for the familiar cold liquid to reach up and embrace her in its gentle waves. She missed swimming.

"Sera!"

The so-called woman frowned in her sleep, not liking how the ocean called her name this time. It was harsher, more abrupt. She didn't like it. Ignoring the ocean— something her mother said she was never supposed to do—, the woman refocused on the gentle heat the sun was beating down. It was cozy. And so hard to stay awake in this heat.

"Phinie!" A jarring shout jolted the barista from her sleep. Luffy had successfully woken the poor woman, causing her to have a short spasm from the shock of being woken up. Blushing from her ungraceful act, the woman shied away from Luffy's beaming attitude. "Phinie! You're finally awake!"

"We've been trying to wake you!" Usopp panted next to her. Sera turned her head, grimacing at the loud noises the two buffoons were making. She was just relaxing on the top deck, spread out in a borrowed bikini and soaking up the sun's warmth. She was supposed to do something…. What was it? Oh well. With the two adolescent boys on either side of her, she opted to just give in.

"Why?" Seraphina sighed, lifting up her heavily tinted sunglasses.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Usopp planted his hands on his hips; he was sweating heavily. "You told me to wake you up when I got finished with the pushups."

Seraphina stared back at him with wide eyes. She had forgotten about that. "Oh."

"Oh!" Usopp shouted again, frowning as he stared down at the bluenette. "We need— wait"— the mechanic turned back to his captain— "Luffy, why do you need her?"

"Cause of this!" Luffy shoved a piece of paper in her face, smushing the paper uncomfortably into her skin. The paper crinkled against her, blurring the headlines as Luffy moved it around.

"Luffy! Luffy!" The bluenette yelled, half-hazardly reaching out to stop her captain, her arms waving as she pushed against the stretchy boy. "Luffy, I can't see it!"

Luffy backed off, a small pout on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Sera's brow furrowed. Tell him what? Yanking the crinkled paper out of Luffy's hands, the woman quickly scanned the paper. It was a bounty. Hers to be exact. "I have a bounty?"

"Yeah! And you didn't tell me!"

"Luffy," Sera attempted to reassure her captain. The picture caught her classic golden eyes, unnerving even herself as she stared into the golden pools. Luckily, her jewelry was uncaught by the photographer, although her light ocean blue hair was forever immortalized in the picture. She took notice of the bounty placed under her incorrect name. A small bounty of only five million Beri. "I didn't have a bounty until now. And the name is wrong."

"Oh… I thought they got the name wrong. Your name is Phinie." She glared at her captain but ultimately decided to ignore it.

"Huh?" A new feminine voice popped into the conversation."But that's what the bounty says? What is it then?"

"Oh, that's right," Sanji jumped in. "You told the old geezer that it wasn't."

"So what is it?" Usopp pried when Sera nodded at Sanji's statement.

"My papa is Dracule Mihawk, but—" Sera started, only to be cut off by other's exclamations. Zoro had opted to join in the conversation by merely sitting around Sera, curious to her familial relations.

"Wait, what?" Nami questioned, reminding everyone that Nami wasn't there when Mihawk showed up. "The same warlord as Hawk-Eyes?"

"Oh, yeah." Sera nodded, continuing with her explanation. "Well, anyways. He's my father, but my people are matrilineal, so the children take the mother's surname."

"So what's your name?" Zoro spoke up this time.

"Belcher. Belcher Seraphina. I guess the only heard 'Sera' because you guys must have only called me 'Sera' back in Cocoyashi."

"Well," Luffy yanked the paper out of her hands in trade of a different one. "Now we both have bounties! But they got my name right!"

Sera blinked at Luffy's new bounty. It was quite good bounty for someone starting out in the East Blue. A relatively high bounty of thirty million Beri. Although, the bounty picture could have been better. She was lucky that the photographer had gotten a slightly intimidating picture, but Luffy— Luffy the idiot— had gotten a picture with him smiling and waving like an idiot. Although, he probably didn't care now that she thought of it. And it's not like you could get an intimidating picture of Luffy.

"That's actually considerably high, coming from East Blue," Seraphina noted. Luffy just beamed at her.

"You know," Usopp stared at her own bounty poster. "I'm actually kinda surprised you didn't a higher bounty with your haki."

"Haki?" Luffy tilted his head at his musician.

"Yeah," Usopp poked his captain's cheek. "The black stuff covering her hands."

Luffy picked up Seraphina's hands, lifting them up to the sun and inspecting her skin. She tore her hands away from his stretchy appendages, thwacking him lightly on the head. Her captain frowned at her, upset with her lack of abnormal skin. "I don't have 'black stuff' on my hands, Luffy."

"Then what is it," Luffy kicked around his legs like a child throwing a tantrum.

"It's an energy that you use to help you fight," Seraphina leaned back into her chair, attempting to readjust into her sleep. "It's an individual's spirit, but you still need a strong body to help you wield it."

"Train me!" Luffy jumped onto her, sprawling her body as she scrambled beneath his weight.

Both Usopp and Sera tried to push Luffy off of her body. Zoro came to their help— mostly Sera's— and lifted the still wrangling boy off of her slim figure. "Shit, Luffy. You can't just jump onto to people."

"Yes, I can!"

Zoro looked over his crewmate, taking in her lightly covered form as he held their annoying captain. Luffy said something about letting go, so Zoro obliged, dropping his wriggling captain onto the ground with a loud plop. Sera scrunched her face in disgust. She didn't like the noise of Luffy's rubber skin hitting the ground; it was too abnormal. "Luffy, stop being a brat. Or I won't teach you."

That shut her captain up immediately. However, it only furthered Zoro's curiosity. "Teach him what?"

"Haki!" Luffy sat up from the floor, crossing his legs in front of him.

"Oh yeah," Usopp plopped down next to her, "I'm finished with the pushups."

"Ah," Seraphina nodded. "Keep going with a hundred sit ups."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Luffy pointed an accusing finger at her while Usopp gasped at her with wide eyes. Seraphina shooed the mechanic to go while Luffy yelled at her. "What about me?!"

"Well," Seraphina tilted her head in thought, " _you_ don't really need it in the first half of the Grand Line. Usopp kind of needs to start a bit early."

"Hey!" Usopp shouted out through his already panting body. She only returned his exclamation with a sheepish smile.

"Shishishishsi," Luffy giggled at the mechanic. "But we can still get a head start right?"

Sera tilted her head. "Sure. I don't see why not."

"Yay!"

"So what do we need to do first?" Zoro sat down near her, genuinely wanting to learn more about how to fight, especially since the crew will be going into dangerous waters soon.

"You two"— Seraphina gestured to Luffy and Zoro— "are going to need to get Observation Haki first. We can't have you two running around like idiots during a fight. That and you two are already strong enough for the first half of the Grand Line. We have time to work on the Armament Haki later."

"Okay!" Nami interrupted their conversation by jumping into their circle unexpectedly, pulling out a map and slamming it on the deck near Sera's sleeping area, "now that everyone has had enough fun with the bounties, we need to plan out our destinations. We're getting real close to the Grand Line and we'll need to stock up on supplies."

"Yay! The Grand Line!"

"Luffy! Shut up!" The navigator shouted at her captain, bonking the boy on the head as she pointed to an area on the map. "The only way to the Grand Line is through the Reverse Mountain."

"Can't we just sail straight into it?" Zoro spoke up, leaning over Sera as she gazed at the map.

"No, the Calm Belt—" Sera was interrupted by her captain.

"Yeah! Let's go straight into it!" Luffy was rewarded with another bonk on the head, this time from Sera. "Ow! Phinie!"

"As I was saying, we can't just go straight through it," Sera sighed, giving Zoro a glare. "The Calm Belt is full of Sea Kings and there's no current. We'll get stuck and constantly attacked by Sea Kings."

"Then we'll fight them and win," Zoro yawned back.

"We can fight them, but the ship won't make it. We just have to go through the Reverse Mountain. It's not that hard."

"Okay," Nami nodded at the woman's words, ignoring the chanting noises of Luffy and meat. "But we still have to go to Loguetown. We still need more supplies."

"Tell Sanji to check out the food storage," Usopp grunted out.

"Alright," Sera pushed down her sunglasses, leaning back into the lounge chair, "wake me up when we get there."

* * *

It was cloudy day when the father saw his daughter's first bounty. The seas rocked his small, but powerful ship; the gentle waves a reminder of his faraway lover. Ah, how he missed her. Her soft touches, her gentle caresses, her reminiscent stories of their daughter's time without him. He knows he missed much of her childhood when he was doing his, ah, work for the Marines, but there was no way his lover's people would ever let them be together. Her people and humans could never be able to intermix.

"Tch, only five million for a Dracule," Mihawk scoffed, looking down on the two bounties in his hand. "They underestimate her."

Despite his scoffs and mocking tone, he really was proud of her. He didn't think she would have stepped up to being in his business of piracy with her current… status. She would be walking on ice with this new hobby. But with that name below the picture, the Dracule father could see that it had been covered. She'll get a lot of trouble with that iconic surname, but at least the Belcher name would still be clean and clear of the piracy business.

When Mihawk looked up from the bounty and his friend's vivre card, he shook his head. Camping out on this island, who did he think he was? Whitebeard? The dumbass captain landed on Whitebeard's territory. The island was definitely uninhabited— the island was too small— but still. It was risky. He'll have to talk about that too him but first, he needs to get the small fry to stop stuttering.

"Where are your superiors?" Mihawk questioned the shaking men. They better not touch his ship while he's gone. He really hates visiting his friend sometimes, but, eh, they haven't seen each other in a while, so what could go wrong? A man ran off, no doubt leading the way to the captain. So, the warlord followed after the clambering subordinate, internally sneering at the way the man shook in fear.

"C— captain," the man spat out, pointing at the advancing warlord, "H-hawk-Eyes!"

With another shriek, the man moved out of Mihawk's way, leaving the two powerful men to stare each other down. The captain smirked at his old friend's dramatic entrance. He really was a dramatic peacock like the warlord's daughter said. Nonetheless, he was happy Mihawk had stopped by. "Yo, Mihawk. Long time, no see. I'm actually really glad you came to me."

"Shanks?" Mihawk raised his eyebrow.

"Your wife stopped by earlier. She gave me a cute little paper with your daughter's face on it," with those words, the Red-Haired captain pulled out his daughter's bounty, her small smile shining back to the two men. "She was quite pissed, if I do say so myself." Mihawk smirked as the other long-time commanders laughed with Shanks. "But I kinda wanna know, what's with the name?"

"The Marines must have just messed up like they usually do," Mihawk waved Shanks off, sitting down next to him as Shanks started pouring him a beer. "But that's not the only thing that I came here for."

"Oh?" Shanks raised his brow along with the other commanders.

"Yes, there were some others with her when I saw her," Mihawk reached into his coat pockets, feeling around for the two bounties.

"Wait, you actually saw the little birdy? I knew you were going to where she said she started out, but I didn't think you would actually see her." Shanks face revealed his shock. "Even Sabrina hasn't seen her. Nor any of the Whitebeards."

"She was in the East Blue," Mihawk nodded, slamming down the straw-hat boy's thirty million bounty onto a makeshift table, "playing with your little monkey."

Like the rest of his commanders, Shanks shot up from his leaning position, his eyes growing wide in his ever-growing shock. Slowly, the captain's face morphed into a proud smile, a smile similar to how Mihawk smiled when he found out about his little fish's bounty. Red Hair laughed, grasping at the paper and smiling like Luffy's smile on the bounty. Reaching around Mihawk's neck, Shanks pulled the man in, handing him another beer as he shouted out for more beer to be brought out from the ships. "The kids have joined forces! Oh, Mihawk this is great!"

"The kids? Seraphina is eighteen," Mihawk retorted, sipping the offending booze while Shanks and the others ignored him. He really did prefer wine.

"Oh yeah!" Shanks shouted again. "Did you give her the jewelry? You know she really shouldn't have left before her coming of age. Her aunts really wanted to give her the anklet themselves."

"I'm sure the entire country did." Mihawk rolled his eyes at the talk of his daughter's aunts. They were a ridiculous bunch. "But yes, she received her coming of age anklet. And the others." He knew about the anklet and Shank's gift, and of course his and his wife's gift, but from whom was the other ring from?

"Let's party!" Shanks outburst lead Mihawk's thoughts astray. Mihawk sighed. He's going to have an exhausting night.

* * *

Sera was quite content with her nonnegotiable choice in her captain. He absolutely fun. With his rubber body bouncing around on deck to his cute little pout, she loved being around the little idiot. She especially loved his individual interactions to each of his crew. To her, he was like a bouncing little brother. And did he bounce. Luffy was truly like his namesake: a monkey. Poor Nami was always yelling at him to stop swinging from ship ropes.

She thought she would have to watch the money grabber when she caught the navigator staring at her family jewelry, but once Sera explained the significance to her, Nami had understood and stopped eyeing her precious jewelry. Sera recognized Nami's talent in spotting something worth money, and she had to say, it was impressive.

Now, Sanji's cooking was equally impressive in its own category. Sera had a feeling she would need to watch her weight with his meals, although Sanji had made sure to stock up on only healthy foods, something she was quite thankful for. He must have been taught how to correctly fuel fighters with their food. And they were going to be doing a lot of fighting in the Grand Line. Something Usopp would need to get over.

"Of course, there's a lot of battles in the Grand Line," Sera sighed from her spot on the lounge chair, back into Nami's bikini for the second day in a row. She's going to get the best tan traveling with Luffy. Or at least skin cancer. "There's no way there isn't when you have so many pirates swarming in there."

"Ugghh…." Usopp started shaking, his knees making a loud rattling noise. "It's okay! The great pirate of the sea will conquer all the other pirates!" Sera shook her head at the seventeen-year-old's antics. "This great pirate is the son of the great Yasopp!"

Sera bolted out of her seat, unsurprisingly frightening Usopp and shocking Luffy, her eyes wide with surprise, the woman grabbed Usopp by his overalls. "What did you say your father's name was?"

"Y-Ya- Yasopp," Usopp whimpered out, cowering under the woman's intense aura. With a shout of glee, Sera pushed back the long-nosed boy and shot her arms into the air, waving them as if she just had won something good. "Please don't hurt me."

"Haha," Sera laughed, smiling brightly as Luffy landed next to her with a quizzical look. "Why would I hurt you? I know Yasopp. He's my uncle's commander."

"Wait," Luffy interrupted their conversation, wrapping his arms around the pair and squeezing all three together as he pulled himself into their personal space. "You know Shanks!?"

"Ow! Luffy!" Sera cringed from Luffy's loud outburst, wriggling herself from Luffy's tight hold. With more protests from Usopp, slightly loosened his hold on the two. Slightly. "Yes, he's my uncle."

"Your related to him? How long have you seen him?" Luffy released his arm from Usopp, affectively ignoring the mechanic as Luffy focused his attention on the woman. Sera pushed him down as Luffy bounced excitedly with the new information. She made a mental note to never feed him sugar. "Does he talk about me? Is he okay?"

"Hey! Luffy!" Usopp shouted at his captain. "I have my own questions!"

"Luffy— Luffy, stop," Sera kept pushing Luffy down, ignoring the rest of his questions as she pushed his straw hat way from her face. Hm, a straw hat. It reminded her of the time Luffy handed her and Nami the hat to keep it safe. "You know Shanks?"

"Mhm," Luffy nodded, his grip getting tighter around the woman. "He came to my village a few years ago."

"Is that where you got the hat? From Shanks? That's why it's so special to you?" The boy nodded his head furiously, no doubt booming with excitement. His mouth opened, and Sera prepped herself for another shout from Luffy. Luckily, his questions was cut off from his first mate.

"Hey guys! I think I see an island!" Luffy's eyes widened even more— as if they could— and bounced towards the bow, leaving Sera and allowing her to breath. Gasping with the new air, Sera let herself catch her breath.

"Usopp." The mechanic looked at her. "You can ask me more questions when we get back, how about that?"

"Alright!" Usopp smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up. "And we'll get back on the training?"

Seraphina nodded to his question, still regaining her breathe.

"What island is that?!" Her captain shouted, his words loud enough to travel back to the end of the ship. Although considering it was Luffy, it wasn't that impressive.

"I just told you yesterday!" Nami shouted at the clueless captain. Everyone gathered around Luffy with the bluenette wrapping her arm around his shoulder as he swayed back and forth from the ocean waves. He better not fall in; she's not going after him.

"Looks like it's pretty big," Sanji remarked with Nami nodding her head along with him. "Then it sounds like there'll be a market with supplies."

"Then I'm hittin' up the weapon stores." That's right. Zoro only has one sword now.

"This place sounds like it'll have some good equipment shops."

"Uh…" Sera groaned, realizing what kind of clothes they'll need for the sporadic Grand Line, "I'll need to go clothes shopping. Not to mention my birth control." She murmured the last part to herself.

"That's right," Sanji puffed a cigarette. "You didn't travel with much did you?"

"It was just me and I wanted to travel light, so no."

Nami slid across the deck, latching onto her free arm as she smiled. "Us girls can go together!"

"Nami!"

"Come on! You don't want one of _them,_ do you?" Nami made a face at the rest of the male crew members as they all raised eyebrows at the orangette. "They don't know female fashion!"

"Nami…." _Well, they kinda don't_ , Sera thought to herself as she looked over the male crew, except maybe Sanji but she wasn't going to tell Nami that. Who knowns what Nami will do to her if the orangette doesn't get her way?

"Unless you want a certain swordsman looking at you," Nami whispered in her ear with a smirk, her mischievousness showing through.

"NAMI!" Sera's eyes went wide, completely not expecting that coming from Nami. She thought she hid whatever Zoro and her had from the crew. That damn cat-burglar was sneaky. The said burglar only giggled at her name calling, ignoring the concerned looks on the crew members' faces. "Okay! Okay! We'll get clothes together."

"Yippee!" Nami shot her arms in the air with a victory. "Okay guys, get ready to dock!"

Everyone manned their positions, pulling and twisting the ropes when necessary with Nami's commands. And Sera had to give it to her, the orangette knew what she was doing with navigation and blackmailing. After they had successfully docked— a miracle considering what Luffy was doing—, Sera quickly packed an empty bag with a few hundred Beris— who knows what Nami wanted to buy. And here they were, currently standing on the docks and attempting to come up with a meeting spot.

"Maybe we should just meet back up at the ship when we're finished," Sera offered to Sanji, completely ignoring Zoro's and Nami's bickering. She heard only a few snippets, but she knew she heard something about money. Of course, it was over money.

"Yeah," Usopp joined in on the conversation, actually offering valuable advice instead of the two bickering crew members and a soon to be missing captain, "that would probably be best. And someone needs to go with Zoro. He'll never find his way back."

"Yeah, maybe you should go with him— where's Luffy?" Sera frowned at her missing captain.

"Oh, he said he was going to go see the execution stand," Zoro finally mentioned after taking a few hundred Beri from Nami. That was something Sera was never going to do.

"Oh, son of a—" Sera shook her head, a frown growing on her face. "And you didn't think to stop him?"

She was met with a half-assed shrug from her green-haired crewmate. "It's not my problem."

"Okay, whatever," Seraphina was not in the mood today. "Everyone just go, get your stuff, we'll meet back up at the ship."

"Yay!" Nami snaked her arm around Sera's waist, dragging her off towards the shopping centers. "Girl time!"

Sera let herself be drug around by the overexcited navigator as the girls tried on different clothing offered by store owners. After a few hours of the owners' valuable time of constant attention to the two girls, the women left empty handed in search for more sturdy clothing.

"Poor guy," Sera murmured to herself. Nami had no heart. They were currently in a shop further from the main tourist areas, but at least there were practical pieces of clothing here.

"Hey," Nami said from behind a clothing rack, giggling as she did so. Sera's stomach sunk. She did not like that sound. "Maybe you should get this."

Sera moved around the rack to stand next to Nami, letting out a sigh at the article of clothing being held up by Nami's hands. It was a matching set of emerald green lacy lingerie with silky straps going across the woman's chest. You could tell Nami was proud of herself with the snide look on her face. "Nami…."

"Please? Just this one, I promise."

"Okay, fine," Sera snatched the lingerie from Nami's hands, walking into the changing room to slip her day clothes off into a corner of the room. Keeping her own underwear on, she shuffled the lingerie onto her almost naked body. Not wanting to peak in the mirror until Nami had seen her, Sera closed her eyes as she poked her hand out to pull Nami in.

"Hey! You look pretty good in it!" Nami squealed, readjusting certain straps to get the best look out of the lingerie. Sera finally opened her eyes at the sight. She had to admit, she really did like the green on her and the fabric clung to her in a nice way. "I knew I was right! We're going to get it!"

Seraphina hesitantly caved in to the delight of Nami. "Alright."

"Yes!" Nami squealed again. "I'll go get the other clothes while you take that off. Then, we'll purchase everything."

"Okay," Sera nodded, taking off the lacy lingerie as Nami went off to do as she said. Slipping back on her normal clothes, she gathered the underwear and added it to the growing pile on the counter.

"Do you guys have enough money for this?" The owner raised her eyebrow at the two women.

"Of course, we do! How rude!" Nami frowned at the poor woman, slamming her fist into her other hand. "We should get a discount because of your rudeness!"

Sera sighed to herself. This was going to be a long one. "Nami, I'm just going to check out the jewelry shop across the street. Get me when you're finished."

"Okay!" Nami gave her a thumbs up and continued on with her bargaining. If you could call it that. More like swindling. "Ninety percent off!"

As Seraphina stepped outside, she noticed how different the air felt. Looking up, she noticed the darkening skies as they hovered over her, their deepening grey leaving an ominous feeling in her body. It was going to rain soon. No worries for her; she loved the rain. Well, water in general. She loved the feeling of water pouring over her body, the gentle drops washing away the dirt and cleaning her skin. It was the best feeling in the world.

"Belcher!" Seraphina jerked, not recognizing the voice nor expecting someone to call out her family name so far from the Cove. Swinging her head wildly, she focused in on an older lady staring her down from inside the jewelry shop. "Yeah, you! The pretty bluenette!"

Sera moved forward, her manners too ingrained into her to not approach the lady when she called her over. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talk—"

"Bullshit, sweetie." The wrinkled lady shook her head at the bluenette. "I've been studying jewelry too long to _not_ recognize the Belcher insignia and the other pretty jewels. And there's no way in hell you stole that from a Belcher without getting killed." Sera was speechless. She didn't think there was going to be someone as well versed in jewelry as this old woman. "So either you have some rich admirers or you're family. And I'm thinking both."

"….I don't know what to say to you."

"Then don't say anything. Kids these days," the woman rolled her eyes at the younger woman, gesturing the adolescent to move closer. "Just let me look at those beauties. I've spent my entire life trying to even _see_ something even relatively extraordinary, then you show up. I've just gotta see them!" Sera moved closer, allowing the woman to take ahold of her arm as the woman studied her armband. "Your people are the masters of making beautiful jewelry."

"Thank you, ma'am." Sera nodded, remembering her manners as she spoke to this odd lady.

"Thank _you!_ I could die happy now!" The lady made an exasperated gesture, smiling as she did so. Sera smiled back at the sassy old lady.

"Phina!" Nami ran over to her. At least as well as she could with the huge bag on her back. "Oh, there you are!"

"Oh?" The jewelry shop owner raised her eyebrow. "You're not traveling alone?"

"No," Sera shook her head. She was, but now, well, she quite likes Luffy and the gang.

"How odd." Nami gave an odd look to the two other women. "Your people usually travel alone."

"I was, but I kind of got caught with them." The odd woman laughed with her words.

"Sera," Nami interrupted the two's conversation, worrying over the oncoming storm. "It's going to rain soon. We should at least get the clothes to the ship."

"Ah!" The lady exclaimed, shooing the two younger women away, pushing the two girls from out of her shop. "Then go! And thank you for your generosity!"

"What generosity?" Nami's face scrunched in confusion.

"Oh, nothing," Sera whispered mostly to herself as she donned the heavy bag, taking the weight from Nami. "How about I go on ahead and you find everyone else?"

"Okay," Nami gave her another thumbs up, happy to be rid of the overweight bag. And that's how she was left alone to make her way to the ship alone. It wasn't the worse thing to happen to her— the bag wasn't even that heavy! It was just… quiet. After just a few days with Luffy and the other Straw Hats, Sera was really getting use to the loud noises.

She slammed the bag down on the ship deck. Huh, that was weird. She didn't have any trouble at all. Oh well! That's great! And she didn't realize that it was something that would never happen to her again. She slid open the door the cabin door just as the rain had begun. Shoving in the slightly damp bag, Sera leaned the heavy bag against Nami and her shared couch. It was just big enough for the two of them. They would both like another female, but where would she sleep? Oh well, that's a problem for another time. Sera opened the cabin door, slightly taken back by the heaviness of the storm. They'll have to leave soon. They can't get into the Grand Line in weather any worse than this!

"Sera!" The said woman jerked her head towards the caller.

"Nami! Usopp!"

"Sera, get ready! We can't stay docked in this weather!" The navigator shouted over the wind. The bluenette trusted her judgement and prepped the sails.

"What about Luffy and the others?" Usopp shouted across the ship, waiting for the critical answer from Nami.

"We'll just have to wing it," Nami shouted back, pulling at her own rope while Usopp manned the rudder. "Sanji!"

Both the other two crew members on board turned their heads to the shore, grinning when they at least one of the three missing crew members. Sanji was standing against the shore, waving his long hand to the trio.

"Sanji!" Usopp shouted, waving his arms in joy as he saw his friend, only to be stopped short when the blond landed on top of him as he jumped from the shore, leaving Seraphina to be impressed by his jumping skills. Something she never thought she'd be impressed by.

"Oh shit! Usopp, watch where you're going!"

"Hey!"

"Guys!" Sera yelled over the two idiots, noticing the way the ship moved further and further from the shore. "I think I see Luffy and Zoro, but they're too far away."

"Shit," Sanji spat out again, not liking how things were turning out as he moved over to the bluenette. Suddenly, two stretchy hands landed on the Merry's railings, the skin stretching in abnormal ways as Sera slowly realized who the owner was.

"Everyone move! Luffy is coming in!" Sera pushed away Usopp as she bolted from her captain's destructive path. She and Usopp had made just in time; Luffy came bursting in Zoro screaming between his arms as the teen crushed the somehow slow Sanji in his path.

"Yahoo!" Luffy bounced up from the groaning pile completely unharmed. "Everyone made it! And that Smoker guy isn't following us anymore!"

Sanji pushed his captain off of him. "Luffy, what the hell?!"

Seraphina turned her head towards her captain, wide eyes staring into his round orbs. "Who was following you?"

"That Smoker guy!" Luffy pointed to the shore, revealing a long line of Marines that Sera had somehow not seen until then.

"What the hell did you guys do in there?!" Seraphina gave her captain an exasperated look. How did he mess something up already? There wasn't much to do in Loguetown other than get supplies for their journey. She was met with only Luffy's laughter.

"You guys see that lighthouse over there?" Nami called the crew over, making sure her voice was heard above the storm.

"What about it?" Luffy huffed.

"It's known as the "Light of Guidance." Nami shook her head at her captain yet smiled at his antics. "So, the entrance to the Grand Line is just up ahead of that light. Are you ready, Captain?"

"YES!" Luffy shouted hugging the two closest people to him: the two female Straw Hats. Sera laughed at his excitement, forgetting about his unexpected encounter with the Marines.

"We should celebrate," Sanji offered, setting down a barrel before the hugging trio. He set his black clad foot down onto the barrel, giving a silent offer to the other crew members. "To find All Blue."

"To become the Pirate King!" Luffy added his foot.

"To be the greatest swordsman."

"To draw a map of the world!"

"To conquer the seas!" Sera added her boot to the barrel, standing next to Zoro.

"T… t-to become a brave warrior of the seas!"

Together the six lifted their legs in harmony, slamming down to crunch the poor barrel under their combined strength. And they knew that together, they would be able to do anything.

"To the Grand Line!"

 **A chapter for Christmas.**


	7. The Ocean's First Island

**Here you guys go! And officially in the Grand Line!**

"H— hey guys," Usopp gestured over his shoulder to the where the lighthouse should have been shining, he knees shaking as he spoke. He's not going to lie, he's really starting to regret this pirate-adventure thing. "The light kinda just went out."

"Oh," Nami waved off Usopp's concerns, staring at the now damp map. Damn, she'll have to redraw it. Or at least get some water proof paper. The Fishmen had gotten their hands on water proof paper, surely she could. "It's just a lighthouse, it's fine. We know the basic direction now."

"Yahoo!" Luffy shouts were drowned by the storm, loud bangs and hammering rain absorbing his cheerful shouts. A strike of lightning crackled across the sky; a usually malicious omen transformed into a positive one with Luffy's cries of joy.

"Hey, Phina?!" Nami called out to the bluenette, concern growing on her face as she studied the map.

"Yes?!" The woman shouted back, finishing tying up a rope as she made her way to the navigator. Sera's eyes widened when she noticed Luffy's position on the ship; the captain in his favorite seat as he dangled from the edge. Luffy will be the death of this musician on day with his lack of awareness.

"You're from the Grand Line, right? Are you sure about this mountain?" Nami questioned the bluenette, only to find her wrestling Luffy off the sheep head and back onto the deck. With his rubber abilities, he had surely given her a hard time as he scrambled from her iron hard grip, but he was still over come by the bluenette. Tossing him onto the hard wooden planks, the bluenette returned to navigator. Nami opted to ignore Luffy and repeated her questions.

"Yes, although I haven't gone up it personally, I do know people who had to go up the mountain," Sera nodded her head. "The strong currents will allow us to enter the Grand Line."

Nami nodded at her words, genuinely taking her advice to heart. She pointed her slim finger towards the area where large red mountain was supposed to be. She still couldn't see it through this storm. "Guys, we need to go through that mountain!"

"Woah!" A familiar voice was heard through the storm. Their captain must have shouted quite loud, else they wouldn't have been able to hear him. "Nami! I can see the magic mountain!"

"Magic mountain?" Sera whispered mostly to herself as she followed Nami to the front of the ship, praying to the stars that Luffy didn't destroy anything. Luffy was right. For once. The bluenette was beginning to see a slight form of the red mountain.

"Wow!" Their captain shouted again, his emotions bubbling over as he grew with excitement. "I can't even see the top!"

"Holy shit!" Zoro exclaimed next to her, his eyes growing wide as he observed the water before his eyes. "It really is going up!"

Seraphina didn't have enough time to admire the large mountain that even she hadn't seen before Nami's orders rang out. "Usopp, Sanji! Get a good grip of the rudder!" The two crewmates bolted into the kitchen.

SNAP. CRASH.

Everyone on deck slowly turned to the source of the noise, a dreadful feeling pooling their stomachs as they realized it came from the kitchen area. As Sera noticed splinters of varying size litter the kitchen floor, she gathered her wits enough to be the one who spoke. "That better not have been the rudder."

"We're gonna crash! Luffy!" Nami shouted, ignoring the now broken rudder and pointing to the oncoming pillar. Who the hell put pillars here?

Sera snapped her head towards the bow, her eyes widening at the enlarging decorated pillar. Bolting from her stationary position, the woman covered her hand in her familiar haki and readied herself to attack the poor monument. Pulling back her fist, a loud noise flew above her. A fat Luffy landed himself between the ship and the pillar. What? "Luffy?"

"Oh! Phinie!" Luffy smiled at his musician as he was squeezed by the ship, protecting the crew from a nasty fate if he were to fail. He expanded himself again, pushing off the ship and launching it back out in the middle of the current. With Sera's arms outstretched and beckoning for her captain, Luffy took the invitation and latched onto her appendages. Springing himself towards her, Luffy ended up wrapping himself tight around her body and clung tight as she tried to remove her captain. "Yahoo!"

"Luffy!" Sera laughed as the Straw Hat captain flung himself from the musician, landing on the wooden planks with a thump and bouncing off to the sheep head. She joined Luffy at the bow, appreciating the experience of actually going through the Red Line. Some say that the pirates from born in the Grand Line don't truly know what it's like traveling because they hadn't crossed the Reverse Mountain. She was glad to have been a part of the experience.

"I can see the Grand Line!"

Clouds parted once they were high enough, splitting to reveal the previously hidden expanse of the blue ocean. Her ocean. Water sprayed, hitting her glowing face in an unfamiliar fashion. She was quite unused to traveling in a ship as large as this. It was mostly with Mihawk and his small ship.

"Did you guys hear something?" Sera looked to the side of her, not noticing when Zoro had made his way next to her. She shook her head, relishing in the feeling of the water.

"Bouohhhh…."

"Oh, now I did." Sera quieted herself to narrow in on the noise, taking note of Sanji's observations of the mountain in front of them. "Wait, there shouldn't be a mountain in front of us!"

"Guys!" Everyone turned towards their captain and his squinting eyes, his small frame being overwhelmed by a growing shadow. "It's a whale!"

"What the hell?" Seraphina let the words slip out of her mouth as she gawked at the large whale. She's never seen whales this large in the Grand Line. Other creatures, yes, but whales, no.

"Maybe it hasn't noticed us yet!" Nami, the ever-brilliant navigator, formed an idea in her head. "Guys, turn portside!"

Usopp screamed back from inside the kitchen area, his hands on his face as his eyes grew panicked. "But the rudder's broken!"

"Just make due!" Sera shouted back, following Zoro as she left Luffy's side. An almost fatal mistake.

"I've got a plan!" Her captain shouted, passing up Sera as he bolted through the ship and into the weapons storage. Sera didn't notice him, instead focusing on pulling the steering lever's remaining nub. And with a loud crash and bang, Sera fell back into Sanij's arms with her legs sprawled on top of Zoro's abdomen. She ignored the ero-cook's heart filled eyes. "Good! I wonder if the ship stopped now?"

"Did he just fire a cannon at the whale?" Sanji's one visible curly brow rose.

Red flashed in Sera's eyes as she stared down his small, lanky form. Her captain didn't even notice. But he did notice his favorite seat that was currently resting on the wooden planks. "AH! My special seat!"

"No! Luffy!" Sanji struggled to lift himself from the floor with two other people sprawled out on top of him. He flung the mechanic off him as he carefully lifted the bluenette into his arms bridal style. "Sera, can't you talk to fish?"

"Whales are mammals." She gestured for the man to release her, the gesture going unnoticed by the blond. "And not really."

Luffy pulled back his arm, a move iconic to the woman and now, was certainly frightening. He was going to punch the whale. A fucking whale. He wasn't nearly as strong enough! Seraphina scrambled out of Sanji's arms, landing on the planks with a hard splat and bolted towards her captain, waving her hands back and forth and shouting at him. But he moved at the last second and she plummeted to the wooden floor with new scrapes and splinters added to her injury list. And boy, was that list growing since she's met Luffy. The whale moaned, no doubt due to Luffy, and the bluenette felt the ship listing towards the shadows. Her body slammed into the rails as she realized they were going to be swallowed.

 _That little shit._

* * *

"We were swallowed by the whale, right?" Zoro leaned in close to Sera, who had just gotten up from the floor, as they stared at the ceiling together with the rest of the crew— all except Luffy. The ceiling was covered in paint; with frozen seagulls and still clouds, it was obvious that it was painted. It was pretty good for being painted on a whale, but it was still pretty mediocre to the other works of art she's seen.

"Yes, it's just pai—" Sera made a face at being interrupted.

"What's with that house on that island?" Usopp pointed towards a floating object, unknowingly pushing his finger into the bluenette's face. No one had time to answer him— a giant squid burst forth from mini sea of gastric acid, only to be shot down with three harpoons. Like the easily frightened chickens they were, Usopp and Nami bolted from the bow, tripping over themselves in their fright and taking down Sera who was standing near them. With a small squeak, Seraphina whipped out on the planks, hitting her head hard on the wood.

"Oh hey, looks like there's someone here," Zoro offhandly remarked. Sera stood up, a good grip on Usopp's arm as she pulled herself up with her spinning head. Her head swirled. "It's a flower!"

Sera did a double take, first time finding an actual flower, second time finding an old man pulling in his harpoons. She slapped the green haired man on the head. "No, you moron. It's just an old man."

"Your father just came through these waters a few weeks ago," the old man stated as he pulled out a newspaper and leaned back in his lawn chair. His words jolted the woman with the aqua hair. The old man shook his head as if admonishing a small child. "Mistaking a Belcher as a Dracule, how embarrassing."

"Who are you?" The Belcher spoke out, a harsh tone taking hold instead of a gentle one like how she intended. She winced at her tone.

The flower man gave her a pointed look. "I'm Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Capes. I'm 71 years—"

"Okay, okay, okay," Nami stopped him, waving her hands in front of her. "We just want to know where we are."

"We're in a whale, Nami," Sera rolled her eyes at the navigator. "Where have you been?"

"People don't just get swallowed by whales—"

"You got swallowed by a whale," Crocus supported Sera while still reading his newspaper, pointing towards a giant iron door that she hadn't seen somehow. "And there's the exit."

Nami gave the man a questionable look, still not quite convinced. "And how is it that a door's floating in the sky?"

Crocus flipped a page. "Cause it's a painting."

"Oh." Nami deadpanned while Sera rolled her eyes. "That makes sense. Hey, wait! That means the ocean is gastric acid! Our ship can't handle that!"

Seraphina opened her mouth, ready to mouth off to the younger girl when a loud rumbling noise shook the Merry. She latched onto the ship railing, unwilling to be launched into gastric acid of the poor whale. _What the hell was that?_ "Nami! We have to get out of here!"

"What's this whale doing?!" Usopp shouted.

"The whale has started bashing his head against the Red Line," Crocus responded to the mechanic's question, a stone hard expression resting on his face.

"Nami!" Sera shouted again to the navigator, a slight panic in her eyes.

"Right," Nami snapped back into attention, ordering around the crew like how she was best at. "Everyone, start paddling towards the exit!"

"Guys! The old man jumped in!" Usopp pointed out, gesturing to the empty space where he once stood.

"He should know what he's doing," Seraphina remarked, manning an empty oar. "Let's just worry about getting to the exit."

BANG!

"Uh…. Phina?"

"What, Usopp?" Sera snapped back, she was getting to the end of her temper. She found Usopp pointing high into the sky— stomach.

"Hey! Phinie!" Oh. Sera looked up from her station, peering into the "sky" as she spotted a flying red dot with lanky appendages sticking out of the red dot. _Oh my God. That's Luffy…._ "Oh good! You guys are alright!"

"Luffy…."

"Well, in any case, help me out!" Sera shot out her arms in respond to Luffy's commands, noticing the way two other dots fell into the deep pool of acid. She pulled her arms back in when Luffy's own appendages found themselves clinging on to her outstretched arms. Landing with a snap, Luffy and his musician fell to the planks from his force. He landed on top of her, completely unharmed, and was smiling. "Ah! That was fun!"

"Hey! Get off of Sera-swama!" With a loud slap, Luffy was sent flying again into the Merry's walls from the force of Sanji's kicks. With the captain lodged firmly into the Merry's walls, Sanji offered his hand to the not-so-delicate barmaid.

Sera sat up, taking Sanji's hand in hers. "Someone should get the other two weirdos."

"Yeah, Zoro's on it," Nami gestured to the gastric sea.

"Hey, where's all the shaking?" Usopp pointed out, making sure no one had forgotten about being eaten by the whale.

"The whale seems to have calmed down…." Nami remarked as a loud slashing noise occurred. Sera looked over just in time to see Zoro shove the mystery couple onto the deck, a nasty odor coming from the dripping trio. Seraphina scrunched up her nose.

"I won't let you two lay a single finger on Laboon!" The old man shouted from atop the platform near the metal door. Raised a brow at Crocus's outburst as she stared down the pair; a man with swirly nines on his cheeks and orange hair and another woman with her matching blue hair. One of them looked familiar…. The man with the swirly nines on his cheeks raised his canon with a harsh smile on his face. But before he could shoot with the offending weapon, Luffy raised his fists and slammed them down on the couple, knocking them out cold.

"Luffy!" Seraphina widened her eyes at Luffy's actions. Usually she wouldn't care, but he really knocked the shit out of them this time.

"Phinie!" Luffy pouted at the woman's calling, a small Luffy attitude building up inside the boy.

"Whatever, let's just figure out what's going on," Nami rolled her eyes as she wrapped around the Merry's anchor to the iron palm tree. "Someone help the old man."

"On it," Zoro sighed, jumping back into the nasty substance for a second time today.

 _God, he's going to smell awful,_ she thought to herself. Sera opted to tie up the K-Oed pair, not wanting Sanji to do in case he underestimated the lady. She liked how chivalrous he was, but that was going to get him killed one day. She set down the pair on the island, noticing the odd way the grass felt under her boots. It was definitely fake.

"I can make it on my own, sonny!" An old voice shouted out, as the owner swatted at his helper's hands. Zoro let go of him as they clambered onto the grassy shore, a grimace growing on his face as he shook off the acid. "Damn kids, thinking I can't do anything."

"So what happened with the whale?" Nami spoke up, putting her hands on her hips. Zoro moved closer to Seraphina who was currently trying to pull Luffy down from false palm tree and whispering something about manners to the unlistening captain.

"This whale is an island whale found in the West Blue," Crocus sighed, sitting down on his lawn chair, gently rowing both their ships closer to the exit. "It's the largest species of whale in the world. The one we are currently in is called Laboon. And these two idiots—" he kicked the mysterious man's head with his sandal— "are from a nearby town. Their goal is to hunt Laboon. But I can't allow that. I made a promise."

"Luffy…." Seraphina whispered to her captain as she tug on his shirt, begging him to come down from the fake palm tree. He really was a monkey. He giggled his classic laugh as he smiled down on his crew member. "Luffy, it's rude to climb on people's trees."

"Laboon's crew came to the Grand Line thinking that their whale was left behind in the West Blue. I became good friends with them and they asked me to look after Laboon until they came back. So Laboon waited here," Crocus took in a deep breath. "It's been 50 years since that day."

"Fifty years?" Usopp crumbled into himself, his jaw dropping as his own heart sank for the poor whale.

"Luffy, get off. We need to leave soon," Sera yanked her captain down, falling over with extra weight as Luffy opted to cling to her instead of the palm tree. Sanji scooped her into his arms before she hit the floor, letting the captain roll off into the small hut. "Ah!"

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed as he bounced from off the ground.

"She's right," Crocus gestured to the woman that was now fighting off Sanji. "You need to leave before your ship dissolves. I'll lead you through the tunnels."

"Tunnels?" Nami asked in disbelief as the others prepped the ship, excluding Luffy of course.

"Yes, tunnels," Crocus responded as he pushed a button on the wall, leading the way down the darkened canals. "I use them to get better access to Laboon."

Nami gave him a disbelieved look. "Huh?"

The old man turned back to her, nodding. "I'm actually a doctor—"

"JOIN MY CREW!" Luffy leaped up from his seat on the cracked off sheep head. Sera slammed him down before he could latch himself on the lighthouse caretaker. "Ow…. Phinie!"

"No thank you," Crocus responded, as he stepped off the ship, fiddling with something on the wall that Seraphina couldn't see. "I've had enough time as a ship doctor. But it is easier treating this large animal from the inside."

A bright light appeared as the doors separated, blinding the crew to the natural light of the sun. Luffy jumped from the wooden planks, ignoring his growing bump. "Ah! Guys! We're out!"

"We know, Luffy," Zoro rolled his eyes at his captain. "We can see that."

"Maybe Laboon's crew will come back?" Usopp offered half-heartedly to the group only to meet Sera's shaking head. She was the only one of the Straw Hats to truly know the horrors of the Grand Line.

"If they haven't come back," Seraphina started, "they're either dead, not coming back, or slaves."

"Slaves?" Zoro questioned.

"Those fellas already left," Crocus nodded to Seraphina's words. "I heard from a reliable source. They attempted to leave the calm belt. Whether they made it out or not, I don't know. But they could never return here anyways."

Sanji lit a much-needed cigarette, "so basically, those cowards were more concerned about their lives than keeping a promise, and thus left the Grand Line to never return."

"So, they just left him?" Usopp's voice cracked, his voice mimicking his heart. "And you didn't tell the whale?"

"I did," Crocus responded to his accuser, "but he refuses to listen. He's afraid of losing the meaning behind his waiting above all else. And I can't just let him keep hurting himself. We've been together for fifty years."

"So, why can't you just—" Sera was cut off by a loud shouting noise. She turned towards the whale, watching as her captain ran up the West Blue whale. "Luffy!"

"What's that idiot up to now?" Sanji spoke through his cigarette.

"Take your eyes off him for one second and he breaks something," Nami huffed, watching her captain be an idiot. "He's like a child."

"Sera!" Zoro turned to the wide-eyed woman who was watching Luffy carry their mast up the whale. "Weren't you on Luffy-sitting duty?"

"I'm not a babysitter," Sera retorted. "I can't watch him all the time! He's like a toddler; he just gets away sometimes!"

Nami rolled her eyes, watching the two fight. She let the words flow under her breath, "like a married couple."

"Uh… guys?" Usopp spoke up, tapping the swordsman on the shoulder.

"What?!" Zoro turned on the poor sniper who flinched.

Usopp merely held his hands up and pointed to the running Luffy. "Uh…. Is that our mast?"

Everyone faced the center of the ship, looking deep into the remaining stump of the mast as their hearts sunk into their stomach as they realized it was the main mast. A single thought ran through their heads: how did he do that without a sound? Sera spotted the water moving in an odd way, the waters swaying to an unknown force. Shouting out for the others, she latched onto the ships railing as the whale quivered. Luffy was flung from the whale's head as it screamed in pain. Luffy ignored it's crying, throwing a hard punch into the animal's thick skin. The whale flicked its tail, relaunching its offender into the side of Crocus's light house. He bounced back from the attack with light scratches.

"It's a tie!" Luffy smiled as the waves settled down. "Our fight has yet to be settled, so we must fight each other again! I'll be your new rival and we'll met you here to see you again."

Nami sighed as she leaned over the ship railing, green slowly fading from her face. "Oh god. He's going to get us killed sometime. Why did I agree to go with him?"

"Let's just fix the damn ship," Sera rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, asking herself the same question.

"We'll get the mast," Zoro gestured to the blond and the floating mast in the water.

Usopp headed into the ship to gather his supplies, calling over his shoulder, "I'll get some planks!"

Sera did a quick head count, something she would quiet often later on in their journey. "Hey, Nami?"

"Yeah," Nami turned around to face her crew mate.

"We're the other two?"

"Oh! The couple?" Nami touched her chin in thought. "Maybe they ran away? I actually wanted to know who they were…. Oh well!"

"Hm…. I just thought one of them looked familiar."

Nami tilter her head, giving her a curious look. "Oh? Who?"

"The bluenette."

"Oh," Nami's eyes brightened. "Is she someone from your family?"

"No," Sera's eyes shone with genuine confusion. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh," Nami's face fell. "It's just that your hair looks the same. So I just thought that you two were related."

"No," Sera shook her head. "I don't have any siblings and none of my cousins have blue hair."

"Whelp! Let's just dock! Then we can plan out our navigation route." Nami smiled at the bluenette. Together the steered the small ship onto the shore of the Red Line. After fixing the parts that Luffy broke, the remaining crew parted to go onto their own past times as they let Luffy play with the whale. Usopp did a double check to make sure nothing was broken, Zoro slept after showering from Sera's constant pestering, Sanji started their meals, and Nami sat down on a table Crocus set out for the two ladies. Sera decided to join her, a personal request of Nami to make sure they avoided bad areas.

"I don't know why you asked me," Sera off handily remarked, but still deciding to join her in her planning. "You can't control the log pose."

"Log pose?" Nami set down her compass onto the wooden table, spreading out the map over the entire table.

"Yeah," Sera leaned her head on her propped arm, watching Luffy paint the whale with a shoddy Straw Hat jolly roger. "The Grand Line compass—"

"Ah!" Nami screamed, upsetting Sera's delicate ears as she flinched from the unexpected screech.

"Nami! What?!"

"It's the compass," Nami grabbed onto her friend's shirt, pulling and tugging as she shouted. "It's pointing in all directions!"

"Nami, just use the log pose," Sera rolled her eyes, attempting to push off the tearing girl. "What did you expect?"

Nami shook her harder. "I don't know what that is!"

Sera froze, her heart dropping for what seemed like the 100th time that day. Nami did not say what she thought she heard. Dread filled her eyes as she realized what her father would say to her about her 'lack of awareness.' "What did you just say?"

"Did you guys come her without knowing anything?" Crocus scoffed. "You should know better, Belcher."

"DID YOU COME INTO THE GRAND LINE WITHOUT RESEARCHING IT!?" Sera yanked up the other female, letting her composer slip as she shook the girl. She knew it was partially her fault for not checking.

Nami gave her a pathetic look, her eyes watering as her lips quivered. "No!"

"WHY?!"

"Cause we had you!" Nami started crying. "I thought you were going to help us!"

"I didn't know you knew _absolutely_ nothing!" Sera responded, her own eyes tearing up as she got flustered and frustrated. "Nami!"

"Phina!"

"Ladies," Crocus sighed, watching the two dramatic women cry. He knew Mihawk's kid was going to be a dramatic one, but this was out of his hands. He spotted their male crew mates coming towards them. "You guys can just take my log pose."

Nami bounced up in Sera's arms, a smiled growing on her face. "Oh! Thank you! But why do we need a log pose?"

"Because of the magnetic fields," Sera regained her exposure as the rest of the crew gathered around, slightly ashamed for a Belcher to lose her appearance like that. Blue hair flipped with the movement of the owner's head. "The islands in Paradise are full of minerals. And the currents and weather are unpredictable. The log pose records the magnetic field. So, we use the log pose to follow the magnetic fields of the islands."

"So it's a weird looking compass?" Luffy asked his musician, sitting himself down at the table for lunch.

"Well," Sera gave a small pout, not really sure herself. The bluenette tapped her chin. "I don't know."

"What?" Sanji narrowed his eyes, as he set down the dishes. He removed Nami's map, folding it carefully as to not mess up Nami's valuables. "How do you not know?"

Sera pout grew as her crew looked at her. With more of their stares, she finally confessed in a soft voice. "I don't know because someone else was always in charge of the log pose."

Zoro shook his head, ignoring the way the woman glared at him. "Oh my god, you're a spoiled little warlord's daughter."

"I'm not spoiled, Zor—"

"Well," Crocus continued on, not really surprised by the woman's confession. _It seems like her crew doesn't know who she is._ "It is rather oddly shaped."

Luffy held up a round glass ball attached to a leather band as he munched on the crew's lunch. "So, like this?"

Crocus nodded. "Yeah, actually. That's exactly it."

"Luffy," Nami exclaimed, hugging her captain as she took the log pose out of his hands. "How did you get that?"

"The weirdos left it."

"Ah, okay. Then they don't need it," Nami talked mostly to herself as the males squabbled over how Luffy ate all the food.

Sera opted to keep glaring at Zoro, noticing the way his smirk grew on his face as he attempted to pretend to sleep. He could definitely feel her gaze on him. "I know you're awake, Zoro."

"Oh, do you need anything, your majesty?" He opened his eyes to find a bluenette staring him down with her golden eyes. He was starting to like her piercing golden orbs.

"I'm not your Queen, Zoro," Seraphina poked his chest.

"I didn't say you were, Queenie." He retorted. She moved her hand faster, ready to poke him harder. Unfortunately for her, he was quicker, catching her hand in his. She was met with a smirking Zoro when she made a noise as he caught her hand. He pulled her down to lean against his chest as he rested against the red rocks, taking in the gentle warmth of the sun beating down on the two. He pinned her down with his strong arms, poking her nose as she simmered with anger on top of him. He opened his mouth to only be cut off by her. "You—"

"Zoro, you son of a bi— ugh!" Sera moaned as something landed on top of her, crushing the swordsman below her as the offender crushed the two beneath his weight. Golden orbs widened with black eyes as the owners were crushed under Luffy's weight.

"Guys!" Luffy shouted into their ears. He rolled off with his familiar giggles as Zoro pushed him off them. "What are you two doing? We gotta get going!"

"Where, Luffy?" Sera moaned, standing up from her spot on the floor with Zoro. She was going to be sore from that.

"Whiskey Peak!" Luffy bounced up and down.

"Are you sure about that? It's a town of boun—"

"Yeah! We made a deal!" Luffy bounced off, singing something about the four seas as he left the pair to themselves.

"Oh my god," Sera shook her head. "Let's just go."

Zoro nodded, stretching his arms. He walked off towards the ship, taking his damndest time getting back to the ship. Sera paused in her tracks, remembering something she needed to get back in Loguetown. Her eyes widened as she took in the horror of almost forgetting about her much-needed item. "Zoro?"

"Huh?" The swordsman turned his head towards the bluenette, giving her a raised brow. He still looked sleepy.

"Do you have condoms?"

Zoro's sleepy eyes quickly grew wide at her words. It seems as though he had also forgotten about their agreement. "Shit. I knew I forgot something."

* * *

"I—it's f—fre—ezing," Nami shook, clinging to her heavy coat as she glared down the lightly covered bluenette. "H—how th—the hell are y—you not shivering?"

Sera rolled her eyes at the orangette, pushing the medicine drawer shut. Crocus didn't have condoms, but he surprisingly had birth control. And they were hidden away so no one else would be able to find it. Thank god the bluenette had enough intelligence to ask Crocus. "I'm used to it."

Nami slammed her hands against the table, slightly jealous at her ability to stand the cold. "Then why don't you go out there and start shoveling?"

"No," the other woman responded, sipping on her fresh tea. "I don't want to."

"Seraphina," Nami grumbled as she watched Seraphina do a small but haughty hair flip at her, completely missing the way the other bluenette widened her eyes at the name. _Phina really does act like a spoiled warlord's daughter._

"Doesn't this ship have a heating system?" The male orangette huffed at the bickering Straw Hat duo. "It's cold."

"Umm," Seraphina narrowed her eyes at the bounty duo. "If I recall, you two aren't guests. Why don't you warm up by shoveling the snow?"

A strong crack was heard outside. Seraphina looked up from her tea with slightly panicked eyes. _Oh…. That better not have been Luffy._

"Lightning?" Nami muttered to herself.

Seraphina had a sinking feeling in her gut. "Nami?"

"Yeah?"

"You've been checking the log pose regularly, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Nami looked down at her wrist. "Oh shit!"

The navigator bolted out of the room, leaving the remaining trio to stare at each other as they realized Nami had messed up. The man with weird swirls on his cheeks looked the bartender up and down, taking in her long nails and iconic light blue hair. "So what's a mermaid doing above water and so far away from the Red Line?"

Seraphina's eyes widened, growing in the shock of his quick identification— still wrong but quick. She glanced her golden orbs towards Nami, making sure the navigator didn't hear. Her breath quickened, turning to choppy breathes as she ran through ideas through her head.

"She's not a mermaid," the other bluenette rolled her eyes, completely unaware of the barista's growing panic. "She's a—"

"TURN THE SHIP AROUND 180 DEGREES!" Nami unknowingly interrupted the conversing 'guests'.

The panicked bluenette grasped the duo on their shoulders, dragging them to the door to throw them out. With a strong toss, she shouted at them. "Shut up and do what Nami tells you."

"I only took my eyes off the log pose for a second!" Nami crumbled into her friend's arms as she gave herself grief over her mistake.

"Nami!" Seraphina yelled into her ship sister's ear as a strong, warm gust blew the ship east. "Just tell us what to do!"

"Okay!" Nami jumped back into her navigator self, shouting at her crew like it was life or death— which it was— and screamed at the bounty hunter duo. Everyone was yanking on ropes and tying knots as they let themselves be commanded by the orangette at the top of the deck. Except Zoro, but no one could find him. Even with the waves lurching and the wind ripping at their delicate sails, Nami had successfully navigated them out of the storm. As the sun beat down its warm rays, a hard contrast to the chilly snow falling only a few hours ago, Seraphina came to a harsh realization as she took in their already banged up ship.

"Nami," Seraphina leaned in closer to the navigator, so the other crew members wouldn't hear her. "This ship was not made for the Grand Line."

Her friend turned back to her with small tears in her eyes; she had been with the ship for a long time. "Are you sure? Usopp wouldn't be able to handle that."

"I know," Sera met her eyes with her own sad orbs. Somehow, she was already attached to the ship. "If we make it, we need a new ship at Water 7."

"How long will that be?"

"It's only half way in the first half to the Grand Line."

"That's too early!" Nami's eyes widened. She pushed off the hand railing, spotting something going on below them. "We'll get a new ship at the Red Line."

It was Sera's eyes to widen. _You can't have this attitude in the Grand Line._ "Nami—"

"Hey you!" Sera watched Nami slam her fist down on a green-haired man. She tilted her head, wondering where he had been all this time. "Where the hell were you?!"

"Ow! You bit—!" Zoro was cut off when something else hit his head. He reached behind him, picking up a boot. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted a glowering bluenette standing above him with a missing boot. "You threw this at me!"

Seraphina merely raised an eyebrow at him. "And? Where were you?"

"'And?!' You bitch, that hurt!" Zoro threw it back at her, his face growing red as she easily caught her boot. "Why did we take you women on board—"

"It's an island!" Luffy shouted, interrupting his first mate once again with his loud voice. "I see giant cactuses!"

"It's cacti, Luffy," Usopp corrected him with a monotone voice.

"Cactuses!" Luffy merely repeated.

"Huh," Seraphina crossed her arms, taking in the sight of the bulbous giant cacti that made up the entire island. Her shoe was now placed back onto her foot. Seriously, the island was composed of just cacti. "Whiskey Peak looks weird."

"And I suppose your island is the prettiest," Zoro rolled his eyes at the Warlord's daughter. "The most beautiful island for her majesty."

"It is the prettiest," Seraphina agreed, seriousness in her voice. "The few people who have been there say it's better than Fishman Island."

Spash!

"What was that?" Zoro raised his brow.

"While you two were chit chatting, the weird duo jumped into the water," Sanji explained as he relit a cigarette.

"Why?" Sera frowned. "Don't they know of Sea Kings?"

"Well," Sanji drifted his eyes towards his captain, "I guess you can't stop idiots."

Seraphina looked over Zoro. "I suppose you're right."

"Hey!" Zoro spotted her wandering eyes, not appreciating her undertones.

"You three!" Nami shouted down at the talking trio. "Stop talking and prepare to dock inland!"

Seraphina bolted towards the ropes, grabbing onto the rough item as Nami directed the crew what to do with their delicate ship. Someone gripped onto her arm with a shaky touch. "Hey, Phina," Usopp's voice shook, "there wouldn't be any monsters on this island now, right?"

She merely shrugged at him. "Depends on what you define as a monster." Usopp's face paled and Sera had to feel bad for freaking him out. "Look, don't worry. I got you and it's the first island. There's not going to be anything too bad."

"Hey guys," Sanji called out, looking into a set of binoculars as he waved to people to come close to him. Seraphina couldn't see through the thick fog, but she could definitely sense a large amount of people in the area. "Does anyone else see those people?"

Nami reached him first, ignoring the way the cook grew hearts in his eyes while she peered into the distance with her stolen binoculars. Well, not technically stolen, but with the price she got, they practically were. "Huh, you're right. Everyone be prepared to fight!"

Sera didn't take a stance, but she did prepare her haki, letting the substance flow down her arms as she monitored the humans lining the shore. They didn't _seem_ to be the fighting type. But, the Grand Line was nothing like it seemed. Even with her experience, she still wasn't used to the greeting she received.

"WELCOME TO OUR TOWN!"

"Uh…." Zoro leaned in close to her, "do people typically greet pirates in the Grand Line?"

"I would say no," Seraphina answered back in her accent as she tilted her head in thought, her index finger gently touching her chin, "but my people typically drown pirates, so I'm a little biased."

She was met with shocked stares, many of them from her sensible crewmates, so basically everyone but Luffy, as she revealed more of her people's ways. Nami was the first to speak up. "That seems a little extreme."

"You guys are not the typical pirates," Seraphina shook her head. "But yeah, we are a little on the violent side."

"Hey guys," Luffy shouted out, reaching out to Usopp as he distracted the rest of the crew with the screaming crowd still going on shore. "They have food!"

"Oh…." Sanji joined in, taking in the scene going on below. "There's a bunch of lovely ladies too!"

Zoro leaned in to the bluenette, whispering so the others wouldn't hear. "So this isn't normal?"

"I don't think so," the barmaid whispered back, watching the crowd as the ship slowed down. "Luffy's an idiot, and you're the first mate. It's going to be your duty to watch out for the crew."

"Phina!" Nami waved her over, gesturing for the bluenette to stand by her as she exited the Merry. "Come on!" Seraphina patted Zoro on the shoulder, noticing the way he discretely nodded at her words from before. She skipped to her orangette, leaning in close to the other woman. She made a motion to speak, but Nami beat her to it. "When everyone goes to sleep, we'll rob them blind."

Sera sweatdropped. Of course, Nami was thinking of robbing people. She should have expected that! The woman nodded at her idea. A man stopped them from making it any further into the town.

"Wel—" his voice cracked in an awful way, breaking into a coughing fit as the man tried to settle himself down. "Ahem! Ma-ma-maa…." Seraphina and Nami exchanged a look. "Welcome, my name is Igarappoi. You may be a little shocked at the welcome, but this is whiskey peak, a town of liquor and music. Hospitality is our middle name!"

Luffy pointed at the man's head and turned to Seraphina. "His hair is too curly."

"Luffy," Sera chided her captain like a mother would a child. Although, she had to admit, it was pretty curly. "That's not nice."

Her captain merely pouted at her. However, the man only laughed at Luffy's rudeness. "We would like to invite you all to our banquet. There will be food—"

"Yes!" Luffy bolted in a general direction to his musician's dismay. Seraphina watched Nami unsuccessfully attempt to get the information for the log pose as she was ushered into a dining hall. This island was just too suspicious. The people sat her down on a comfy couch, swarming her with food and voices.

"Would you like anything, _sweetie_?" A nearby man asked. She looked him over; he was quite handsome. With a strong jaw line and a pair of glistening chocolate eyes, the man she was looking at could only be described as handsome. But he fucked up with her, and that was calling her sweetie. You don't call a Belcher sweetie.

Nonetheless, Seraphina tried acting polite as he continued to annoy her, sitting down next to her. "Yes, do you have any drinks?"

Almost immediately, as if he were waiting on it, the man placed a mug in her hands as he not so discreetly placed his arm behind her head. "It's not actually alcoholic, but it tastes like wine."

Seraphina rolled her eyes into her cup, taking a small sip of the beverage. And oh my god, it totally had booze in it. She had gotten wasted off of expensive wine and cheap booze, and stars be damned, she knew when she had drunk alcohol. And there totally was alcohol in this drink. The bluenette was a mixologist, she would know.

"It tastes wonderful," she said in a high voice, shooting a sugary smile to the man. "It tastes just like regular wine!"

"That's great," the man smirked at her, fingering her hair to give it a pathetic twirl. "So what's your name?"

Seraphina laughed in a high-pitched voice, spotting Zoro from the corner of her eye. She internally squealed in happiness. _He's my way out of this!_

"Zoro, _honey_!" Seraphina waved her arm, signaling her location to the idiot swordsman. He looked her over, seeing the— in his opinion— average guy hanging on her shoulders. Zoro only raised a brow at her. She gave him a fake pout. "Zoro, don't you want to sit by me?"

He walked around to the other side of the couch, planting his ass onto the other side of the blue haired woman. Sera jumped onto him almost immediately, wrapping her arms around his abdomen. Zoro had no choice but to lay his arm across her back. She shimmied her body so that she was able to whisper into his ear. "The drinks have alcohol in them."

He only grunted in response, taking the drink from her hands as he chugged the booze himself. The swordsman turned to her, biting her ear lobe and smiled as she responded to him with a genuine laugh. He sent a smirk at the simmering man next to the bluenette. Zoro whispered back to her. "I'll take them out tonight."

"Ahahaha," Seraphina put a hand on Zoro's white shirt. Her tone went back to the normal volume. "Zoro, not here." She was met with many laughs around her as they noticed her and Zoro's provocative placement. The bluenette leaned in to whisper back to him. "Nami and I are going to rob them."

Zoro scoffed at her, taking another drink from a nearby stand. _Of course Nami would do that._ Pushing the drink into the woman's hands, he grabbed his own. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Sera clinked her drink against his and took a long swig of the so-called wine. She licked her lips. It really wasn't the best quality.

 **Please review!**


	8. The Ocean's Rendition

**A _smaller_ chapter for today. I'm feeling very stressed with schooling and decided to take a break for this chapter.**

"Oh my god," Seraphina scoffed. "This Baroque Works has nothing."

Nami stared into the deep nothing that was Baroque Works' treasure room. If disappointment was a treasure, they would have the most of it. The navigator gave a small sigh. "You'd think bounty hunters would have treasure."

"I should have gone with Zoro," the bluenette pouted, looking out a window where she saw many Baroque Works grunts running off to where she assumed Zoro was kicking ass.

"Hey!" Nami gave her an exasperated look. "Chicks before dicks!"

"Nami," Seraphina gave her a disappointed look before slamming an empty chest shut. "This is boring."

"Whatever," Nami waved her off before checking her wrist. "The log pose is finished. I'll go steal their food. You get the crew on the ship, let Zoro fight it out. Then we'll go."

Seraphina nodded at the plan. "Alright."

"Do you want the wine?" Nami looked at her with round eyes.

"No, it tasted like shit." Seraphina narrowed her eyes at her friend when she heard something like spoiled warlord's daughter coming from the organette's mouth. "What?"

"Nothing!" Nami waved her off a second time. "Just go already. Luffy's going to take a while."

Sera internally groaned when she remembered how much Luffy at. How heavy is he going to be? The bluenette rolled her eyes as she left the room, stopping on to find the dinner covered in dirty footprints, footprints that also covered her friends. Well, just two of them; she didn't know where Luffy had gone. He was missing!

"Ugh," she said to herself. "How do I explain that to the crew?" She picked up Usopp first, draping his arm across her shoulders. "Oh yeah, you know our captain, the one guy we pretty much need in our journey?" She spoke to herself in a mocking tone as she played out when she was going to say. "Yeah, I lost him." She dodged an arrow, slamming her foot into the offender's face. "Never mind that he was sleeping. He just disappeared!"

She reached the ship with no trouble at all, gently putting down the mechanic on the kitchen floor as she headed out for Sanji. Sanji was no trouble, except for the fact that he could totally tell a female was manhandling him even in his sleep and had kept mumbling so questionable things in his sleep. So he was just dropped on the floor, not that he would know. Seraphina exited the ship and attempted to place her mind into Luffy's. "Ugh, I'm getting a headache just trying to think like him."

She opted to just stroll around. Luffy couldn't have gotten far, right? And besides, she could handle herself if anything went wrong. The bluenette was in luck! She spotted her orangette. "Nami!"

"Ah, Phina," Nami waved her over to her barrel that she was sitting on. Seraphina raised her eyebrow as she saw a bleeding Igarappoi on the ground. "Oh yeah. A lot of stuff happened."

"Ah," was the only thing able to come of out the barmaid's mouth. "Well, anyway. I can't find Luffy."

"Eh," Nami shrugged. "I'm not surprised."

Seraphina sat down and crossed her legs by Nami. "So…."

"Okay," Nami sighed. "So here's what happened. So apparently this guy—" she gestured to the curly hair on the ground "—is a captain of a country. Your twin—"

"I'm an only child, Nami."

"—is a princess of a country. I offered to help them—"

"Did you really?"

"—for a price.—"

"Oh my god, Nami."

"—So, Zoro right is going to get the princess and then we'll get Luffy and go."

Seraphina blinked at the orangette. What the hell did she get them into? "So, where is Zoro and Luffy—" A large crash cut her off as another explosion sounded in the background. That's probably where Luffy was. "Ah, nevermind."

Together, Sera and Nami left the curly haired man behind to go get the boys. What was supposed to just be a retrieval mission turned into a fight between the two powerful Straw Hats. Nami's eyes started twitching as she laid eyes on the two idiots. She slammed her fist down on both their heads.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" She glanced at the blue haired girl. "Well, I guess I should at least be glad that the girl is safe."

"Why did you people save me?" The other bluenette questioned the odd pirate group.

"Would you rather we let you to the other Baroque freaks?" The Straw Hat bluenette rolled her eyes. The woman seemed familiar to the undercover princess.

"Ah!" Nami's eyes gleamed. "That's right. You don't know anything yet. Would you like to make a contract with me?"

"Nami!" Seraphina shouted, shoving her hand in Nami's face. "No!" She turned to the other blue haired girl. "Tell us what's happening."

The girl sighed but sat down on a nearby barrel. The poor girl looked worn down and somehow aged. "Have you heard of a kingdom called Alabasta?"

The barmaid sat up, memories flashing through her eyes as she recalled upon the time of playing with another bluenette as a child in the cold waters of Mary Geoise. They were friends over their matching blue hair, never mind their extreme differences in species. Even now, Seraphina remembered her friend's laughter. "Are you Vivi?"

The princess started at her words. Pausing for a moment as the Straw Hats looked at each other in confusion, the princess took in the accuser's appearance. Her eyes widened. "Are you Seraphina?"

The woman slowly nodded. "What happened to Alabasta?"

"There's a civil war!" Vivi sprang into her long-lost friend's arms, hugging her tight to the surprise of Nami. "I found out that Baroque Works was behind it, so I infiltrated it with the help of Ingram to find out who was behind Baroque Works. The Works wants an ideal nation."

"Ah," Luffy nodded. "That makes sense."

"Luffy," Sera turned her head to her captain as she tried to soothe her friend. "You don't understand, do you?"

"No."

"Of course he doesn't," Zoro rolled his eyes at his captain.

"Baroque Works' true objective is to take over Alabasta by using the civil war and to use Alabasta as their 'ideal nation,'" Seraphina finished for the undercover princess. "If everything goes according to Baroque's plan, Alabasta will end up like Dressrosa."

"What's Dressrosa?" Nami tilted her head.

"Ugh," Seraphina sighed. "Don't worry about it. It's not until the New World anyway."

Luffy patted his feet against his barrel that he was sitting on, creating a series of thumping noises. "So who is the boss dude anyways?"

"No!" Vivi jumped out of Sera's arms, waving her own hands in front of her face. "Don't ask me! If you knew, Baroque Works would come and hunt you down. And no matter how strong you guys might be, you're no match for Crocodile, a Shichibukai!"

"Uh… Vivi," Seraphina sweatdropped.

"Yeah?"

"You just told us!" Nami jumped onto the bluenette princess, shaking her as Nami screamed.

Luffy's lips grew into a smile. "Woah! A Shichibukai!"

"Yeah, not bad," Zoro smirked, taking noticed of the way Seraphina was lost in thought. "So how deep of shit are we in?"

"Not too much," Sera shrugged, making sure Nami didn't kill Vivi herself.

"How strong is he?" Luffy's eyes gleamed.

"Well," Seraphina sighed. "He's not the strongest, but he's not the weakest. We're actually lucky we're not dealing with a Dressrosa. We'd be so screwed if we were dealing with Doflamingo."

Luffy's face turned into a pout. "I wanna beat the strongest."

Zoro rolled his eyes at his captain. "Who is the strongest?"

"Well," Sera leaned back, thinking on all the Shichibukai, "I'm a little biased, but I'd say either Papa or Doflamingo. Papa said never to meet any of them outside of his protection, but oh well! Now, the weakest would probably be Gekko M—" Seraphina had just spotted the area where their navigator was supposed to be sitting. "—Where's Nami?"

Just in time with her questions, a fuming orangette walked back into her peripheral vision. Vivi spotted her anger and had the unfortunate idea to ask her about it. "Nami, what's wrong?"

"They have our pictures," Nami answered back, kicking a nearby barrel. Suddenly, an idea sprung into the orangette's head. She tackled into Sera, gripping her arms hard as she sprang her idea onto the shocked bluenette. "Say Phina, would you get your dad to help us!?"

"Oh my gosh, Nami," Seraphina pushed her back. "No, we don't need him. It's just Crocodile, besides, Luffy wants to do this on his own—"

"Don't worry!" Someone called out. The two women turned their heads to find Igaram in Vivi's outfit holding onto four dummies...? They exchanged looks with each other. "I have a plan."

"Um, Igaram, what's with the outfit?" Vivi asked for them, her own confused look on her face.

"I'll lead them away with this disguise," Igaram turned to Luffy. "Have you decided on whether or not to safely escort the princess back to Alabasta yet?"

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head.

Seraphina patted his head, ignoring Nami's weeping noises. "We need to take Vivi back to Alabasta."

"Ah, okay. If Phinie says it's okay, then it is!" Luffy beamed his typical smile back the bluenette, an action that made her heart melt.

"Good," Igaram turned to his princess. "Give me the eternal pose and—"

"What's an eternal pose?" Nami finally stopped crying.

"A log pose that eternally records a magnetic field. It will always point to the same island," Igaram quickly explained for the Straw Hat crew. He steered the conversation back to his original plan. "While Baroque works chases after me and these dummies, you will go on the normal route while I go directly to Alabasta."

Seraphina nodded, attempting to get Luffy heading back to the ship while Zoro helped the man undock his stolen ship. Who knows how much time Luffy'll waste? "That sounds like a good plan."

"He always been so dependable," Vivi said absentmindedly, speaking mostly to herself as she watched her beloved retainer sail out into the vast sea. She didn't have time to absorb the events when Igaram's ship blew up in a show of bright yellows and oranges as she said her words. Seraphina's eyes widened when she caught sight of the explosion.

"Zoro!" Sera shouted, catching the said man's eyes.

He quickly nodded, remembering what she said to him about taking care of the crew before the banquet. "Nami, the log?"

"Finished!"

"Usopp and Sanji are already on board!" Seraphina shouted, grabbing Luffy by his arm.

"Then let's go!" Zoro bolted towards the wrong direction, only to be set on the right course by Seraphina. With a few exchanged words, Seraphina thought it best to just grab him by the arm as well. They made it to the boat just as the two other Straw Hat members were starting to wake up. Ignoring their questions, the three started pulling up the anchor and retying ropes.

Vivi joined them on the ship after she noticed her oversized duck standing next to the other familiar bluenette. Giving sound advice to their navigator, Nami thought it best to listen to her, leaving out a small tributary to the grand ocean. However, Seraphina couldn't shake an odd feeling of hers.

"Be careful not to crash your ship into the rocks near the shore," a deep but still feminine voice startled the crew. Everyone turned to find a dark haired woman staring down at them.

"Mi— Miss All Sunday! She's Mr. 0's partner!" Vivi screamed out, her shrill voice ringing across the water. "Igaram and I tailed after her."

"I let you tail me," the woman giggled as Sanji cocked a gun at her head while Usopp merely took aim with his sling shot. Zoro stood down low but unsheathed his sword. Sera coated her arms in haki but took no stance, temporarily ignoring the odd feeling of familiarity with the strange woman. "Don't point such dangerous weapons at me."

Everyone's weapons were slapped out of their hands by, well, hands. Except for Seraphina, didn't use weapons. Instead, arms and grabby hands flipped her feet from out under her and pinned her down onto the planks. This Miss All Sunday must have gotten some insider information; she currently had the bluenette swarmed in a flurry of extra limbs.

"Don't worry," the woman raised up a hand— one connected to her. "I'm not here to fight. But it's quite unfortunate for small time pirates to be looking after a wanted royal…." Her eyes scanned the crew, taking in the faces of all the Straw Hats. "Or two…." Sera narrowed her eyes at the woman's quiet words. "And how unfortunate for the route you're currently on. Little Garden. Hm… You still won't reach Alabasta."

"What's in Little Garden?" Seraphina had enough. Even with the arms pinning her down, she still knew how important gathering information was in the Grand Line. Why else would she hoard her newspapers?

"Oh? A Dracule?" The raven-haired woman gave her a smirk. "Daddy wouldn't be very happy knowing you're here, now would he?"

"Oh piss off," Sera murmured to herself knowing that Mihawk really wouldn't want her wandering outside of his or her mother's dominion. The woman flicked something into Vivi's hands. An eternal pose?

Vivi gave a look to the cowgirl woman, wordlessly asking questions they all were thinking. The woman decided to respond. "You'll be able to skip over Little Garden with that. Don't worry. The island is off Baroque Work's route. You won't be followed."

Vivi looked even more confused. "Why would you give us something like this—"

 _Crunch._

The undercover princess was left to stare at the emptiness of her hands as the captain Straw Hat crumbled their alternate route in his hands. Luffy tossed the glass and wood splinters over the side of the ship, glaring at the woman while he did this. He pointed towards her. "Don't you dare think that you can choose the path of our journey!"

The woman gave him a smirk. Standing up from her spot on the railing, the woman gave a small wave and hopped off the Merry into her ship, no doubt. Usopp cried out, not expecting her jump out. Seraphina squirmed against the hands, not appreciating how her hands were still stuck to her but everyone else's was gone.

"Ahh! What a huge turtle!" Her captain exclaimed, pointing to where All Sunday was leaving. Seraphina gave him a glare; she was still pinned down after all!

The bluenette heard a scoff from next to her. Looking up she saw the now smirking swordsman looking down on her in her situation. He looked her up and down, taking in the multiple hands still holding her down as she squirmed.

"What, Zoro?" Seraphina huffed at him.

Zoro's smirk widened. "Waiting for _Daddy_ to save you?"

Seraphina narrowed her eyes at the man, giving him the best glare she could manage under the pile of hands. With a sounding pop, the hands disappeared, sparking an idea into the bluenette's head. An evil smirk on her face, the bluenette sprang up from the deck, landing hard into Zoro's shocked body. The bluenette's powerful body slammed the swordsman into the wooden planks.

"Ow! Fuck, woman!"

"Um…" Usopp poked his head from out behind the ship mast. "What's going on?"

Vivi ignored the mechanic, turning to the navigator currently staring off into the water. "Um, are you guys really alright with me riding on your ship? I'll be putting all of you in danger."

"Vivi," Seraphina turned herself away from the man she was currently holding down with her weight. She kept her hands pinning down his arms. "You already put half of us in danger. They know what we look like." The other bluenette's face fell, stirring a guilty feeling into the barmaid's heart. "Look, Vi. It's fine, really. Isn't that right, captain?"

"Ah, sure!" Luffy gave her a beaming smile.

"Alright, alright, now that's all settled," Nami shuffled the two women towards the kitchen, waving her hands towards a confused Usopp asking for information. "You need to tell us all about the Grand Line."

Vivi gave a confused look to Sera, looking to her other bluenette and wordlessly asking her question to the woman. The barmaid shook her head, already knowing the question that came with the look. Despite living in the Grand Line, Seraphina didn't know that much about the early islands. The women sat down at the table, brushing aside dust and other of the crew's belongings as they prepped the table for Nami's map drawings.

"Would you ladies like anything to eat?" Sanji poked his head in, giving a gleaming smile to the female trio.

"Sanji, that would be lovely," Seraphina returned his smile. And with that, Sanji had returned to his wiggly arm state as he danced across the kitchen preparing a snack for the women.

A rap on the door had Sera picking herself from her spot on the kitchen bench. It was fine. All she was doing was watching Nami and Vivi talk about currents and coral reefs. She opened the door to find Usopp standing with paper in his hands with a sleeping Zoro in the background. She shook her head at the sight.

Usopp gave her a smile. "The paper finally came!"

"Ah, that's great, Usopp." Seraphina grabbed the paper from his hands. "I knew the paper would slow down in the Grand Line, but I didn't think it would come this late."

Seraphina returned to her spot next to Nami, opening the salty paper in her hands as she scanned headlines.

 _THE BEST ISLANDS FOR SHOPPING SPRE—_

Not useful.

 _CELEBRITY DEATH FROM LOVE?! THE SHOCKING—_

Stupid.

 _PIRATE CAPONE BEGE SEEN ON GRAND LINE ISLAND_

 _Captain Capone "Gang" Bege of the Fire Tank Pirates was recently seen stocking up on their resources on an early island of the Grand Line. With a current bounty of 50,000 Beri, this man is considered dangerous by the Marines. Stay away!_

Getting there.

 _BEST WAYS TO PLEASE YOUR MAN BY STUSSIE—_

Definitely not getting there.

 _WHITEBEARD PIRATE IZO SPOTTED ON FISHMAN ISLAND_

Whitebeard claimed Fishman Island, how was that news?

"Ugh, Nami," Seraphina turned to her organette friend and handed her the newspaper, "You can have this, nothing good is in here."

Nami nodded, mouth full of Sanji's delicious snack, and grabbed the paper from out of the bluenette's hand. She slid the spoon from out her mouth and set the utensil down in the dish. Seraphina turned herself away from Luffy's navigator to face the other bluenette. Chin resting in her hand, the bluenette looked over the undercover princess and gave the fidgeting princess a small smirk.

"What's wrong, Vivi? You look tense."

The princess sighed, poking her flan with her spoon. She gestured to the resting crew just outside the wooden doors. "Is it really okay for everyone to be so relaxed on the Grand Line?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine," Seraphina waved her hand in front of her face as if waving off Vivi's nerves. "Besides, they have me—" Sera's eyes widened when caught sight of her captain hanging upside down with his feet on the lamb's head. Her golden hawk eyes witnessed Luffy's sandal clad feet slowly start to slip off as his hands waved in the air. Little shit looked like he didn't even notice himself slipping. "Luffy!"

Vivi rolled her eyes as the bluenette bolted off to save her idiot captain. Shaking her head, the woman turned herself back to her flan, listening to the shouting match the musician and the captain were having over why or why not the captain could sit on the bowsprit.

"Hey, Vivi," a voice lured the bluenette from her thoughts, the soft voice gently pulling the tension from the princess's body. "How many days does it take to get to Little Garden?"

"Whisky Peak is actually quite close." Vivi scooted closer to the navigator, pointing to the map with her long finger. "It's a good thing we left in the morning; we caught the currents heading towards Little Garden. It should only be a few hours. I think we'll get there by midday."

* * *

Seraphina collapsed against the Merry's railing, thoroughly outdone by Luffy's exhausting nature and the early morning shit with Baroque Works. She rubbed her closed eyes as if an attempt to get rid of the tiredness leaking into her body. "It's too earlier for this shit."

"Aw," a nearby voice wormed its way into her head, strengthening the growing migraine in the woman's head. "Queenie too tired for everyday work?"

She let out a sigh, already recognizing the voice currently wandering inside her head as his laughs echoed in her ear drums. Sera cracked open her eyes to find the green-haired swordsman cleaning his bloody swords. Her snippy words forgotten, she leaned over closer to him and studied how his skilled hands carefully cleaned the lustrous steel. "Why do you fight using the three-sword style?"

"Why don't you fight using swords, or any blades of some kind? Isn't your daddy the World's Greatest Swordsman?" Zoro shot back with his own questions that were no doubt festering in his mind. She sent him a smirk.

" _Daddy_ is a swordsman, but he knows the women in our family fight better with hand to hand combat," she decided to respond to his questions, finding no harm in answering a simple question of his. "They get in the way of our fighting style. Although I do know how to fight with a sword, I'm definitely not the best."

Zoro hummed in acknowledgement of her words, quietly taking in her foreign accent. It sounded nothing like Mihawk's. He kept patting his blade with his uchiko, covering the now blood clean katana, careful to miss any spot. The swordsman felt her eyes watching his hands, watching his every movement. He had cleaned a katana for more than a thousand times but for some reason, this time was the most unnerving. Perhaps it was because she was the World's Greatest Swordsman. "Three's better than two."

She let out a scoff, only slightly expecting him to answer her with that kind of response. Releasing herself from the rail, she headed back inside the cabin to take out her own prized possession. Pulling its delicate casing for underneath the women's shared bed, the bluenette removed her slightly damaged harp and took out the appropriate repairing tools. Walking to Nami's tangerine trees, Seraphina took her time to carefully repair the slightly damaged instrument.

The sun was finally getting to her even with all the sun lotion she had to rub into her skin. The bluenette loved the warmth of the sun, it reminded her of her home, but even the harshness of the rays got to her skin. But beneath Nami's tangerine trees were the perfect spot to just relax after dealing with Luffy and play her harp. It was difficult, not playing her with family— the women in her family have always been gifted with musical talents. But alas, she'll have to deal with being solo. Her fingers ran over the strings, testing the tautness of her strings.

"It's been a while since I've heard you play." A light voice broke through the barista's concentration. Seraphina turned her head to the voice's owner.

She gave Vivi a smile. "I think I've only played for you once."

"Well, still."

Seraphina took the hint, refraining from making a snide comment to lightly running her fingers over the strings again. Happy with the tuning, the female started a familiar song that her ancestors had been playing for generations. No one knows the name of the song, or its origin, but her people didn't care. It was just something that they had played for generations, and it would continue to be played for generations. It wasn't a slow song, or a fast one. It was… moderate. It would lure you into a peaceful state of mind, but it wouldn't put you to sleep. It was soothing, but it wouldn't bring tears to your eyes. It was ominous and mysterious, but it wouldn't stir fear into your heart. It represented her people well.

The nameless song was so ingrained into her being, into her sense of self. Every child on her island was taught to play their melody; everyone knew the tune. It was instantaneously recognizable. You could not go a day her island— or even Fishman Island— without hearing this beloved tune on her island, her home. And each person played it differently each time, yet it was still somehow the same. Everyone on her island had at least one pleasant memory with this melody. And one unpleasant memory. Her grandmother said that it was because of the meaning of the song, the depth. Beneath every wave of pleasure and happiness, there is something lurking in the depths of the unwritten measures that longed to be heard. It truly represented her people.

She clearly remembers the day she played the song by herself— with no help at all from her mother— as she sat in the Lagoon waiting for her father to return with her mother at her side. Those were the happiest days of her life. Wading around in the deep blue Lagoon, playing with the fishes, as her father's favorite two women waited for the Warlord in the sapphire water. Seraphina had gladly played for her father when he had arrived, letting him rest with her mother.

However, she remembers her saddest day even more clearly than her happiest. She was fifteen. Seraphina had just received her second golden anklet, marking her as a warrior of their people, when her mother told her that her grandfather was dying. It wasn't surprising; he was very old. But he was still family. He was someone who had given her so much advice, so much knowledge. And when he asked her to play for him one last time, it was the saddest rendition she had ever played or even heard.

Despite everyone's own pain when playing their people's song, everyone felt an emptiness when the song was finished. If you asked Seraphina to describe the song, she would shake her head and tell you that you have to listen to it yourself. It was the kind of emptiness she never liked, and she certainly didn't like it now.

"I still remember you playing that when we were kids so clearly." Vivi whispered quietly with a gentle smile on her face, speaking so quiet that Seraphina would not have heard if her ears were not heightened.

"It is not a song that one forgets easily, if ever," Seraphina responded to the princess, giving her a smile in return.

"Ah, Phinie!" Her captain shouted next to Vivi, causing the poor bluenette to jump from fright from the unexpected appearance of the Straw Hat captain. Seraphina just smiled at him, sensing he was there but she couldn't remember when he had arrived. "I knew you could play! You're really good!"

His words warmed her heart. Luffy said them with such a genuine excitement and adoration, it was hard not to appreciate his words. He kept beaming her his classic smile. "Thank you, Luffy."

"Luffy," Vivi breathed out. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Luffy rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Nami told me to get you guys. The island is close! We can see it!"

After setting aside her harp inside the ship, Vivi and Sera headed out on deck to find the crew staring out at sea towards a growing landmass. Seraphina leaned on the ship's railing to take in the lovely sight of the ship slowly sailing into the island's mainland. It was such a different sight than what she was used to. She closed her eyes to relish in the calming sensations of the weakening sea spray. It reminded her of home.

"Gyaa!" Someone clenched onto her tightly, jolting her out of her pleasant thoughts.

 _And there goes the happy memories…._ Seraphina frowned to herself as she tried to shake off the trembling Usopp. "What the hell are you do—"

"Caw!"

Seraphina looked up in the sky to see a huge half lizard, half bird monster thing flapping away from their ship. Ah, that was it. Well, sort of. The jungle was not normal, even for her standards, and that much Seraphina could tell. With the ancient looking plants hanging on the edge of the river bank and the odd creatures lurking in the forest, it really didn't look like anything the bluenette had ever seen. A loud bang— boom?— sounded through the jungle, startling all Straw Hat crew.

"Was that a volcano?" Nami narrowed her eyes at the sky. Sera sent her a shrug. Nami nodded her head furiously, clapping her hands together as her lips moved into a thin line. "Okay! We're not setting foot on this island!"

"Sanji!" Luffy shot his hands in the air and ran in a circle on deck, waving his arms around himself. "Prepare a pirate lunchbox! I smell adventure!"

Sanji narrowed his eyebrows. "A pirate lunchbox?"

Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Well, there—"

"No vegetables, only meat!"

"—goes that." Seraphina leaned close to the blond chef, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Sneak the veggies into the meat."

Sanji nodded to himself as he lit a cigarette. "I was thinking that myself."

"Good, we have to keep him healt—" Seraphina stopped herself when she noticed her idiot captain standing on the Merry's rails and ready to bounce off into the jungle. "Luffy!" She pulled on his red jacket and the rubber boy snapped back into Sera's arms. The bluenette was met with angry eyes and a pouting mouth. "You do realize that you almost forgot your lunchbox, correct?"

A realization sprung into his eyes immediately and his eyes grew wide. "My food!"

"Yes, your food." Seraphina pushed him towards the kitchen. "Go wait in the kitchen."

"Ah, Luffy," Vivi tapped Luffy on the shoulder and gave him a gentle smile. "Could I come with you."

"Please do," Sera chimed in. "Someone needs to look after him."

"And why don't you?" A deep voice called out from behind her, a voice instantly recognizable by her. "You seem to always baby him. What's the difference this time?"

Seraphina turned herself around to face the swordsman, a frown growing on her face in a stark contrast of the growing smirk on his. She wacked the back of his head with her haki clad palm and sent him her own smirk. "Because I'm busy watching you."

"Whatever," Zoro cracked his neck and jumped off the ship. "I'm going for a walk."

A blond exited the kitchen, two boxes in his hand and gave them to the two owners who left after receiving their food. Sanji leaned on the railings and shouted down to the leaving swordsman. Seraphina, already sensing a verbal match between the two, left her crew to themselves to Nami's dismay and headed into the woods, already hearing some shouts about not being able to catch game. Huh?

The barmaid shook her head and swished her hips deeper into the jungle, passing by all kinds of exotic plants. It was peaceful in way. Wandering around in a most likely deserted jungle despite the lingering presence of something looming over her every step. It was fine. Really. She could handle herself. Seraphina found herself before a small stream, no doubt drawn in by the soft rustling of the water on rocks. She dipped her pale hand in the cold stream, taking in the familiar feeling of the water rushing over her skin.

It was so soothing. So refreshing. Everyone should relax in a cold stream at least once in their lifetime, and Seraphina would support this statement for as long as she lives. It was so relaxing, she didn't even flinch when the volcano went off again. Which probably wasn't a good sign, but eh, she'll be fine. Although considering her laxness, that was probably why she didn't notice the man behind her. With a quick and strong swing of a wax-covered limb, she was knocked out cold.

 **Please review!**


	9. The Ocean's Sickness

**Another chapter!**

She regained her consciousness covered in a hard-white substance covering her ankles and wrists that were currently locked behind her back as she laid on the ground. A thick plaster of the white wax was covering her mouth. Seraphina heard a stifled laughter next to her, and with a quick turn of her head, her eyes clashed with that of Zoro's. She took in his appearance— just legs and wrists covered in wax, not mouth— and narrowed her eyes at him.

"It looks like someone jizzed on your mouth," he sent her classic smirk, absolutely relishing the sight of the barmaid's eyes grow red with fury. With a swift kick to the stomach, Zoro grunted from the woman's power. He smirked at her, knowing he won their small one-sided banter.

"Would you shut up?" Nami tried kicking him despite her position on the other side of Seraphina.

"Are you sure they're crewmates?" Someone above them spoke, causing golden eyes to drag themselves towards the voice. A woman dressed in all yellow stood above her. Everything she was wearing was yellow, even her stupid hat, except for her solid blue jacket.

A man sighed beside her. He pushed up his dark sunglasses while smoothing out his brown trench coat with the number five stitched over his heart. Seraphina sighed. Baroque Works. "Yes, they just aren't compatible crewmates."

"Mr. 5!" Another man shouted out. It was a dweeby looking man with a pinstriped shirt without sleeves. He put his hands on his hips, bringing attention to his khakis. Khakis? Why khakis? Seraphina internally groaned, looking for a way out. Beside the man was some kid with a backpack and a pink hat. No doubt the dweeb's partner.

"Seraphina!" The blue haired princess shouted from across the field. The women caught each other's eyes, a dreadful feeling sinking in their stomach's as they realized that everyone who knew about Crocodile's identity was gathered together. Except for Luffy.

"Vivi!" Nami shouted for the gagged woman. "Where's Luffy?"

"Hahaha," Mr. 5 laughed, stepping on Zoro's face and rubbing his face in the dirt. "We've already killed him."

Seraphina didn't miss how a smirk grew on Zoro's face when he heard those words. She rolled her eyes. _Oh great,_ Sera thought to herself, _Zoro has brain damage._ Mr. 3 ignored their words, shooting a substance from his arms that looked quite similar to the substance Zoro had mentioned earlier. Sera shivered in disgust, not wanting to watch the white wax form into an oversized wedding cake with a pumpkin attached to it. Next to a giant? What the hell did the Straw Hats get into?

"It looks like a pumpkin," Nami blandly commented with Seraphina nodding in the background in agreement.

"It's not— mmhh!" Mr. 3 placed his head in his hand, finished with everyone and their shit. He sighed and waved over the lower ranked pair. "Just add them to the wax."

Seraphina narrowed her eyes when she was lift up and carried over to the wax. Mr. 5 placed her upright and let the soft wax absorb her ankles. She watched as the other four captured crew were place in their places with Nami on her left and Zoro on her right. Her 'twin' was placed on the far right. Her wax cuffs and gag where not removed while the others' were. She narrowed her eyes.

"Are you sure it's fine to kill the Warlord's daughter?" The blond asked her partner, a genuine question in her eyes.

The man nodded. "It'll be fine as long as Dracule doesn't find out."

"Yeah, Warlord's daughter, get us out." Nami put her hands on her hips. Seraphina gave her a glare. "What? Don't look at me like that." Nami gestured to her unmoved ankles and innocently put her hand over her chest. "I can't do anything. I can't move."

"How come Phina doesn't get her cuffs removed?" Vivi's eyes grew in concern.

"Sh, don't tell them," Zoro crossed his arms. Nami narrowed her eyes in confusion. "She's quieter this way."

Seraphina's eyes widened and flashed red; by god, did she want to hit him for a second time today. Vivi, paying no mind to the bickering trio, lifted her hand in the air, noticing small white flakes land on her palm. The royal bluenette narrowed her eyes. "Hey guys, something's falling down."

The dweeb laughed at them, watching them stare at the sky in confusion. With his hands on his hips, he proudly explained his contraption. "This is my candle service! The mist that falls from—"

"Ugh, that's a terrible name," Zoro grimaced, recrossing his arms over his chest. "Sounds like a prostituting service."

The barmaid's shoulders dropped at his words, slowly taking in his words. Nami leaned over, trying to look at Zoro while Sera was in the way, and gave him a completely baffled look. Vivi merely looked taken back, completely unused to Zoro's type of language even despite hanging with bounty hunters for over two years. Nami opened her mouth. "What is wrong with you?"

"HEY!" The three Straw Hats and Vivi looked down from their spot on the candle and stared at the red-faced Mr. 3. Oh. He was angry. Seraphina tried to put her hands on her hips, only to find that she had forgotten about her bound appendages. The man huffed. "As I was saying! The candle haze you're inhaling will make you guys become a candle soon! You will all become art! The finest—"

"Fuck you!" Nami shouted, turning herself to the giant by the candle. "Hey, Brogy! Do something! You'll become a candle too!"

Sera watched as the khaki man laughed at Nami's words, his mocking laugh echoing through the unnatural clearing as the four watched the giant's face grow cold. The Straw Hat bluenette listened as the man confessed in some involvement with the giant's friend. The giant was from Elbaf, that much Seraphina knew. She's seen some giants. The man went on to explain how he wounded the giant's friend and how that giant named Brogy killed his wounded friend. Seraphina shook her head. Baroque Works was truly made up of the worst kinds of people.

"I figured something was wrong with Dorry," the giant rumbled. His body trembled as his voice shook with anger. Sera's eyes grew wide; you don't piss off a giant. "How could I not fight an Elbaf warrior when he continues to fight? He's a true Elbaf warrior!"

The giant pushed against the ground, ripping the wax from its solid foundations as the giant grunted and groaned under the pressure. Everyone stood still and silent, their own surprise getting ahold of them. Only one man quickly regained his senses— the explosionist of Baroque Works. The man sent something Seraphina couldn't see flying towards the giant, releasing an explosion in Brogy's face. The worn-down giant groaned under the attack, collapsing with a heavy thud against the dirt. Seraphina's eyes went wider as she noticed the khaki man summon his white wax again from his arms. However, this time, the long white tendrils grew into the air, slapping down on the already beaten giant and pinning him down. The tendrils formed into sharp points, dropping down from the air to pierce themselves in the hands of the giant, drawing out yells of pain from Drogy.

The older bluenette's mouth turned downward, not liking the way things were turning out. Her thoughts ran fast, combing over her mind of any ideas that could possibly work. She was getting desperate. The woman lifted her cuffed hands high in the air, bringing attention to her. Her hands blackening, the female slammed the waxed hands down around the area of her locked feet. A web of dark cracks scattered across the area around her feet and left big chunks of her pulverized handcuffs, but she still couldn't remove them. With her haki covered hand, Seraphina quickly used haki on her face and slammed her free fist into her mouth. The wax crumbled and fell to the floor.

"Holy shit," the swordsman next to her exclaimed. "I didn't think that would work."

"I was hoping it would," Seraphina spoke with her familiar accent. "The wax was made from a devil fruit, so I was thinking that it would be weaker to haki."

"Huh, I was just thinking I could cut our ankles off, then we could fight."

"Ew, Zoro. I don't want to watch you run around on bloody stubs."

Vivi grimaced at the bluenette's words, not liking the picture the barmaid had painted in her head. Nami face palmed as she listened to the pair's bickering.

"You brutes!" Nami narrowed her eyes at the green-haired man. "Anyways, Phina! Punch us out!"

Seraphina gave Nami a look. "Who did you call a brute?"

"It doesn't matter! Just get us out!"

Sera made a movement, then stopped and paused. Zoro raised an eyebrow at her. "I can't."

"What?" Vivi narrowed her eyes. _She does realize our lives matter on her now, right?_

"I can't move," Seraphina kept her eyes forward, not bearing to look at her crewmates after her confession. Nami just stared at her, not believing that she had just broken out of the wax cuffs only to later admit that she couldn't move anymore. Zoro rolled his eyes at the situation, half expecting something stupid like this to appear in the nick of time. Seraphina bit her lip. "I can't move my back. It's froz—"

A flash of red, brown, and yellow flew across the field, stopping the woman's words as she stared after the screaming ball of limbs. It landed on the outskirts of the forest, clashing to the ground with groans and an odd squawk or two but the loudest sound was of the ball slamming into a tree. Seraphina winced. That would hurt.

"Usopp! Duck!" Her slightly beat up captain popped up from the bushes with a hand on his hat, shouting and screaming into the forest.

"Luffy!" Usopp put his hands on Luffy's shoulders and turned him around to face the field. "The other way!"

Nami bounced up, excitedly waving her hands in the air and gestured to the candle set. "Luffy, beat them up and break this candle thing!"

Luffy quickly nodded at her, pulling back his arms as he prepared himself for another launching. A shift of movement next to her pulled Seraphina's eyes away from Luffy. Seraphina turned her head, noticing the swordsman's posture. He had his right arm in the air, holding up his sword in a heroic way. She narrowed her eyes at him. Zoro caught her look and merely shrugged in response. "What are you doing, Zoro?"

"If I'm gonna be solidified, I prefer this pose."

"That's stupid."

"I'm not the one who's already frozen."

"My skin is super permeable!"

"It's true," Nami poked her head into the conversation, quickly dogging a chunk of wax being thrown her way. "She puts on a shit ton of moisturizer at night."

Zoro rolled his eyes at the two women. "What does that—"

Another explosion interrupted him, pulling all eyes toward the bottom of the Candle Set and the half-beaten Mr. 3. Luffy was standing still over a dark patch and looking towards his crew, a blasé expression resting on his face, an expression that did not sit well in Seraphina's stomach. She tried waving to her captain, only to find her own arms unmoving.

 _Shit._

"Luffy!" Nami called him out from his stupor. "Come free us!"

"I don't wanna." Luffy shrugged, kicking at something on the ground.

"Luffy!" Seraphina screamed, finally getting desperate as she struggled to breathe.

Vivi gasped, noticing something on Luffy. "Guys, it's the paint. It's Miss Goldenweek's. She has a Devil Fruit! It's mental manipulation using paint."

Sera sweatdropped. _That sounds dumb. But I guess it's useful considering the situation they're in._ She coughed, spiting up chunks of white, pasty wax as she hacked up her lung. The lack of oxygen was getting to her; her vision was spotting. Usually, that's not a good sign. A deep voice was the last clear thing she could hear as her vision slowly went black. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, and she couldn't breathe.

But she could still feel.

She could feel the burning of her lungs as the wax cut off her much needed oxygen supply. It strangled her with its white hands as she let out a soundless whimper, the pain getting even to the Warlord's daughter. Haki would not help her now even if she could coat her lungs. She would be covered in white and not the classic black. It was not what she imagined her death would be like. Seraphina wanted to cry, the pain hurt so much. Each forced breathe, her lungs stung as she gathered no oxygen.

Her lungs burnt so much so could feel the heat radiating to her skin, scorching her sensitive flesh as her mind wandered to Luffy. Seraphina could almost hear him, speaking words of encouragement to Usopp as he did something while the mechanic yelled back at him. She loved her crew. And if she died for Luffy, she wouldn't mind. The bluenette just wished she had made it home.

The heat was seriously burning her now. It was so hot, it felt like it was melting her skin. She gasped again expecting the painful oxygen-lacking breathe only to be met with hot air. Her breath was loud, echoing in her ears as she realized that she could breathe now and see. The sky was bright, red flashing against orange. It was fire. Her eyes widened in panic, and she gasped as the flames licked her limbs and burnt her clothes as she collapsed on the waxy floor, weak from the blistering heat. As soon as she took her second breathe, she was met with smoke, coking on the black air.

The bluenette felt strong arms wrap around her now bare midriff, gently picking her up as the body sprinted out of the red angry flames and into the clearing. The woman panted, breathing deeply as she tried catching up, ignoring the stinging from her flesh. She opened her eyes to catch the mess on the field. The Straw Hats must have defeated the Baroque Works. Vivi and Nami were dumping the devil fruit users into a nearby stream so that they wouldn't move from there. Luffy and Usopp were eating crackers with Karoo. And the giants— wait, giant _s_?

 _Where did the other come from?_ Seraphina thought to herself. The woman opened her mouth to voice her thoughts, stopping only when she kept coughing up smoke, unable to speak. Her coughing alerted Vivi, whose eyes widened when she saw Sera's appearance.

"Why's she half naked, Zoro?" Nami sent her accusations herself.

"She didn't get out of the fire fast enough," Zoro rolled his eyes at the two women, one of whom was angry and the other was panicking.

"Seraphina!" Vivi quickly ran over, pulling Zoro near the stream by his sleeve to his annoyance.

"Hey!"

"Quickly," Vivi pushed him further. "She's in a critical condition. Seraphina can't stand the heat; she's weak to it. We need to get her water."

Zoro obliged, setting down the stirring bluenette on the stream bank as the other cupped her hands and dipped them into the dark liquid. The collapsed woman stirred, hearing the three bicker over her and sensing the liquid rushing past her as Zoro scooped her to set her upright with her back to his chest. The water didn't sound right. It sounded thicker, like something else was in the water. She didn't like it. Seraphina pushed away Vivi's hands when the girl had gathered enough water in her palms, shaking against Zoro's firm arms in fear of the mysterious water.

"She must be oxygen-deprived," Nami casually mentioned.

"Sera," Zoro hissed when Sera's nails went into his skin as she backed away from Vivi's hands, clutching desperately at his forearms. The hot metal of her jewelry burned against his tan skin. He kept his eyes on her panicking face, already knowing that with all her scrambling, she would shake off the rest of her burnt clothing. He wrapped his left arm around her pink stomach, pinning her down. "You need to drink the water."

She gasped, her voice still not back, as she attempted to explain her struggling. Desperate and falling back into the primal state of her people, she tried to scream, only to be met with weak gasps. Zoro's right hand went to her face. He wrapped his fingers around her chin to steady her, only being able to do it as she was already so weak. Vivi set her fingers against the bluenette's open lips and gently let the water cascade down Seraphina's throat.

The thick liquid ran down the inside of her throat, leaving an odd sensation in its trail as it pooled in her stomach. Vivi urged Zoro closer to the stream, letting Seraphina's arms be submerged in the cool water. Even with the odd viscosity of the dark water, Sera had to let herself take in the coolness of the liquid as she let herself be taken over by the thick fluid. She had to admit, she was feeling better. Her head was even clear enough to notice her bare chest and her burnt clothes. She rolled over in Zoro's arms, resting against his own heaving chest.

"W— what happened?" Seraphina managed to hoarsely whisper, gently grasping at Zoro's white shirt.

"Luffy and Usopp managed to defeat Baroque Works by lighting the candle on fire," Zoro whispered back to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her back.

"Why the hell is there another giant?"

"It's Brogy's friend." Zoro kept explaining. "He must have only blacked out instead of died. I guess their weapons couldn't keep up with them. They're a hundred years old anyways. Just rest. You've had a long day."

"A full _year_?! The log pose takes a whole year?!" They heard Nami scream at the top of her lungs. Together, they ignored her, too shaken up over her almost burning to death.

Seraphina scrunched up her eyes. Her hands tightened on his shirt. "I'm a Warlord's daughter, a warrior of the—" She paused. "I should've been able to do something."

He didn't say anything to her. He only sat and held her as she simmered on her own anger of not being able to do anything. Zoro must have been in her own boat. He was, after all, the Straw Hat's first mate. She appreciated his silence. Seraphina didn't want any cozy words after that. The woman just wanted to sleep. And it seems that Zoro would give her that. He held her tight as she drifted off into a small nap, the warmth of Zoro's skin and the gentle rise and fall of his chest beginning to lure her into a slumber.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO SERA-SWAMA?!" A shout jolted Seraphina from her slumber, startling a drowsy Zoro at her jerky movements. As Sera pushed Zoro away from her body, a flurry of yellow kicked Zoro to the side, leaving the barmaid to stare at the fuming cook. Hearts formed in his eyes as he turned to the still sitting down Seraphina, only for concern to appear in his eyes as he took in her form. "Sera, are you alright? What happened to you?"

She watched him as he took off his outercoat and wrapped it around her practically naked form, leaning down as he did so. "We got caught by Baroque Works and they trapped us in wax. Usopp could only free us by burning the candle and my clothes burned off."

Sanji's eyebrow shot up, most definitely not expecting that. He stood up, bringing Seraphina up with him as headed over to the main group, leaving a groaning Zoro to glare after him. Sanji steadied the swaying Seraphina with a firm arm around her waist. "I was talking to Mr. 0 on the den-den mushi."

"What?" Sera gave him a look. "Is that what you were doing while we were getting our ass kicked? Having tea and chatting?"

"Hey!" Usopp noticed Sanji. "Where the hell were you?"

"I was talking to Mr. 0," Sanji rolled his eyes. "He thought I was Mr. 3 and now he thinks we're dead. Oh yeah. And I found this." And reached into his pant pocket to pull out an eternal pose. Seraphina squinted her eyes. _Alabasta._ Her eyes widened as everyone else around her shouted.

"We can set sail!" Luffy shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

The momentarily forgotten swordsman bonked Sanji on the head, a dark smirk on his face. "Oi, cook. Where the hell have you been?"

"Hunting," Sanji let Seraphina go.

She drifted away to rest in Vivi's arms. Sera couldn't deal with her growing headache. The three women headed back to the ship, taking the still drowsy woman in their arms and walked her back to their floating home. They set her down on the lounge chair, letting her sit and rest by herself. Seraphina still thought something was wrong with that water.

"Phinie!" A smile grew on her face. Her Luffy was back. Sera turned her head and faced her captain. With a hard swing of his stretchy arms, he landed on the ship deck in front of her. Luffy kicked his legs up and landed on the deck planks with a hard slam. Seraphina winced; her butt wouldn't have been able to handle slamming her ass down like what Luffy did. Luffy tilted his head, taking in her worn appearance, and sent her a smile. "I'm sorry about the fire."

Her smile grew wider. He was too sweet sometimes. His musician patted his head as he continued to stare up at her with a grin on his face. "It's okay."

"See? Mine's far huger than yours!" A gruff shouted from some place on the land. Seraphina narrowed her eyes, wondering what Zoro could be doing in the moment to say something like that.

"Mine's longer!" Sanji responded with his own shout.

Sera face palmed, ashamed for not immediately assuming that Zoro had been arguing with Sanji. It's practically the norm now a days. Seraphina swung her legs from the chair and picked herself up to go peer off the side of the ship. Leaning against the railing, she grew annoyed at having to wait for the two idiots. "You two, just get on the damn ship. It's not a dick measuring contest."

"Yeah guys," Nami joined her. "We can't even carry that much meat. Just cut up the best parts and let's get going."

"Why did they take an entire dinosaur?" Vivi shook her head at the wasted meat as Zoro started chopping up the animals into more manageable pieces. Sanji packed the meat into the kitchen storage area as Zoro tied up the anchor, his dark eyes carefully watching the bluenette as she rested on the lounge chair. The Straw Hats quickly set sail, desperate to reach their princess's end location.

As the gentle sway of the ocean's waves became stronger and more noticeable, the Straw Hat musician began to feel a bit better. Just a bit. Her migraine was reassured by the waves beating against the side of the ship, although she could still feel her stomach rumbling and her skin was beginning to become clammy. Her skin was cold, but she felt as though she was still burning from the inside out.

Maybe she'll feel better if she sleeps it off in the girl's room.

Seraphina stood up, not missing the way her knees shook, and carried herself inside, dropping into the bed without even bothering to remove her boots. Instead, she let them hang off the edge of the bed as she already began to drift into a deep sleep. Her stomach turned, and she grimaced.

She knew she shouldn't have drunk that water.

* * *

Sanji had just finished the little tea cakes for Luffy's snack. And they were perfect. Like always. They have to be perfect for his crew. Sanji wouldn't give them anything less. His crew deserved the best and they would get the best, even that awful swordsman Zoro. The chef picked up the women's platter in his hand, gently pushing against the door that led out of the kitchen. He spotted only two women out on the deck, Vivi and Nami, and strolled over to the chattering ladies.

"Would you two like a snack?" Sanji offered the platter to the two.

"Thank you, Sanji-san!" Vivi took a petite cookie and popped one in her mouth, grinning at the wonderful taste.

"No problem, Vivi-chwan!" Sanji grinned back at her. "Is Sera-swama inside?"

Nami nodded while looking down at her map. "I saw her duck below deck."

The beloved chef nodded and thanked the two females as he spun around to find the older bluenette. With the remaining snacks resting on the platter, the blond slipped back inside the ship and descended down the stairs to the women's room. He will say, it was a good thing that the ship was made for Kaya. Where else would the lovely ladies have slept then?

Shallow pants and small whimpers caught his attention. It snapped him out of his thoughts. Sanji placed the tray on the bar and bolted over to Seraphina's side, knowing that those pants were not usual. And they weren't. Before him was a heavily sweating bluenette with bluing lips and a flush face. The chef placed his hand on her forehead and immediately pulled it back. It was hot to the touch. This was not good.

"Shit."

* * *

"I heard that sometimes the sicknesses are from the climate change," Nami shrugged her shoulders while gesturing to the still panting woman. Seraphina made no inclination that she had even noticed that her crew was even in the room with her.

Vivi shook her, knowing full well that it was far more serious than that. But what? She couldn't tell you. "No, she was born here. She'd be used to it. Besides her people are used to traveling between extreme climates."

"There's no one on this ship who's a doctor," Sanji said, pointing out the obvious while still strongly hinting to Luffy.

"Can't we just feed her? No fish, of course!" Luffy bounced on his legs, desperately impatient to get his musician healthy again. He pouted when Sanji shook his head.

"Food won't actually cure her," Sanji bit on the edge of his cigarette. He will say that it was impressive that Luffy had remembered a detail on Sera's preferences when she spoke it so far ago. Of course Sanji remembered, but he remembered everything about the ladies.

Vivi put the thermometer back into the bluenette's mouth and waited for the classic beeping noise of the instrument. When it rang, she pulled it out and checked the temperature. "Guys, her temperature keeps rising. And it'll take a week to get to Alabasta."

"So we just go full speed ahead!" Luffy waved his arms back and forth.

"Um," Nami gently spoke. Everyone turned to her and watched her fidget in her spot. She went behind the bar counter to pull out a stack of newspapers. "There was newspaper a while ago." Nami handed the papers to Vivi. "It talks about royal forces defecting to the rebels."

Vivi clutched at the papers, the soft material crinkling in her hands as she grasped at the pages. As her eyes quickly scanned the news, her hands tightened with each line of words. She didn't notice the bluenette beside her stir. Seraphina sat up. "Then we need to keep going to Alabasta. I'll be fine."

"Phina!" Nami gestured for the bluenette to lay down again.

The barmaid swatted at her hands, not caring about her crew's concerns and stood up from the shared bed. Despite her swaying mind, the woman carried herself to the stairs and gave her crew a smile. "I'm fine guys. I just need to drink some water."

Sanji rushed to her side, hovering around the bluenette to make sure she didn't hurt herself. She smiled at his behavior and continued up the stairs and out of the ship. Shading her sensitive eyes to the sun, the woman peered out on deck and spotted a sitting Zoro lifting weights. He called out her name, of which Seraphina ignored for now in exchange for her fixation on the sea. It called to her. She could hear it clearly, the way it lured her thoughts and how it whispered her name. She wandered close to the railing.

Zoro could see her slowly make her way to the railing with her hypnotic swaying. Something was wrong with her, that much he could tell. The swordsman ignored Nami's shouting of him messing up the ship's course and focused on the movement of the bluenette's body as she made her way to the railing. She placed her hand on the wood and leaned over the railing, reaching out to the sea as if she could grab something from the ocean. Her mouth opened, and a thick black liquid came from her lips, spewing into blue salt water. Everyone could hear her vomit, but no one was focusing on her.

Zoro was the only one who noticed it. The woman began to slip off the ship and into the deep blue abyss.

The green haired swordsman dropped his weights— something he normally wouldn't do— with a loud slam on the wooden planks and bolted over to the bluenette's side. His arms wrapped around her midriff, pinning her to his chest as he pulled her back to her senses. He noticed how she still hadn't changed out of Sanji's suit coat. Did she even have anything on under that? "Shit, woman. You tryin' to kill yourself?"

"The water won't hurt me," she weakly moaned back.

"No, you'll fall in and you won't be able to swim in your state. You're still half naked," Zoro scooped her up in his arms, carrying her bridle style as he began to head back into the ship. He made sure not to flash her backside to the others as he headed down the steps. With more shouts from above deck with something about a cyclone, an even more dreadful feeling rose in Zoro's chest as he set down the bluenette in her bed besides the conflicted princess who now had the newspapers put away. "Stay here, Queenie. I've got to go back."

"I'm not a queen," he heard her whisper gently with a soft pout on her face.

A feminine hand gently pushed back her sweaty hair. The owner set a soft kiss to her forehead. "Don't worry, we'll get you to a doctor."

* * *

Zoro stood on the deck, watching the heavy snow fall quickly on the deck. The tension was heavy after watching a powerful creature like Seraphina collapse under her own weight. It only shows how even someone strong can succumb to a disease. She was getting weaker, declining quickly over the day; it truly was worrying. Going from a soft murmur to a mindless ramble about the ocean and metal, the crew had a lot of reason to worry. Now she was speaking in tongues. It was slightly hypnotic.

But it made the crew ever so aware that she truly was not what she seemed. Zoro had a slight suspicion that she wasn't telling them everything about her. He had a feeling it was over what she was. But what she wasn't was clear. She wasn't human.

"Hey guys," Zoro called from the crow's nest, spotting something from up above. "Did Seraphina ever mention if someone could walk on water?"

"No," Usopp yelled up.

"Am I seeing this clearly?" Zoro pointed out to the side of the ship to a figuring hovering over the ocean.

The figure was wearing a heavy fur coat with a bow and quiver on his back. He looked kind of like a castle's joker with his checkered clothing and funky hat. Luffy and Usopp exclaimed when they took noticed of man standing out before them. Before anyone could say anything, the water rumbled beneath them, shaking and quaking in a way the Straw Hats had never seen before.

A huge, round ship rose out of the water, spilling the cool liquid over the sides and causing the Going Merry to be pushed away from the disturbed waves. Zoro grabbed the sides of the crow nest. He sneered at the huge previously submerged ship. _Damn, they're going to disturb Seraphina._

The wooden sides splinter opened with a loud click, separating and lowering back down into the ship as it revealed a normal looking galleon to the Straw Hats. Luffy and Usopp shouted out again in shock. It was a pirate ship. The enemy crew hopped on ropes and swung their way over to the drastically smaller ship with guns in their hands and pointed straight at the Straw hats. A door slammed open to reveal an angry looking blond. Sanji quickly read the situation and slowly lit a cigarette, puffing out the warm smoke from his lips as he straightened his posture.

"Only four people?" A fat purple haired man spoke, munching on a slice of meat as he did so. Luffy widened his eyes when the man bit into the knife he was holding without flinching. He had a devil fruit. "Whatever. Do you guys have an eternal pose or even a log pose on you guys?"

"No," Luffy frowned. "Go away."

The purple haired man just stared at Luffy with his cold eyes. He liked his lips and turned around. Zoro squinted his eyes at the man, not expecting him to actually do what Luffy said. The man opened his mouth wide— oh shit!— and bit into the delicate wood of the Going Merry, ripping the wood into tiny splinters as the man chopped down on their beloved ship.

"Hey!" Luffy moved, his furry getting the better of him. His arm stretched up and above, landing itself on the man's head as Luffy now had everyone's gun placed on him. With another shout from one of the grunts, Luffy was met with a barrage of lead and the small pellets lodged themselves in Luffy's tight skin, falling to the floor with a hard noise as Luffy removed them from his skin. Zoro grimaced. All this noise would wake Seraphina up.

A door slammed open with an unfamiliar jingling rattle, although this time not of Sanji's doing. Everyone on deck faced the noise, finding a sweat drenched bluenette leaning against the wood frame with just her one hand. Her drenched hair was plastered to her bare skin, hiding her breasts from the two crews while a makeshift shawl hid her lower body that gave a full view of the bluenette's golden anklets, and her body was limp. The four Straw Hats knew something wasn't right. The woman raised her head, showing her crew her face. The Straw Hats were right. Something _wasn't_ right. Her eyes weren't golden anymore. Instead of golden orbs resting against a white field, her eyes were over taken by an entire black orb resting in her eye sockets.

Some scared idiot decided to point his gun at the sick bluenette— his death sentence.

Panic shot into the woman's eyes. Instead of a scared teen before her, she saw metal, chains rattling together as cries of children were ringing in her ears. Instead of the cold bite of the snow, she felt the harsh sting of a whip. Instead of her crew, she saw an enemy. She panicked.

What left her lips weren't human noises. They weren't even a coherent language. With an ear-piercing shriek, the bluenette swung her sharp nails towards the solider, landing her claws into the teen's skull with a loud crunch. Her nails pierced through the hard bone, releasing a red liquid as she threw down the body onto the wooden deck. The leader made a noise, bringing Seraphina's attention to him. He pointed towards her, mumbling something to another grunt.

"Seraphina! No!" Vivi came running up the stairs, recognizing the stance her twin was holding. The four Straw Hat men reached out to stop their uncontrollable bluenette. "No! Don't use it! You'll damage the ship!" When she noticed Seraphina was ignoring her, she quickly turned to the rest of the Straw Hats. "Cover your ears!"

The musician couldn't hear her friend over the screams of the children ringing in her head. The bluenette did only what she thought would save the children. The woman places her feet apart and steadied herself, taking no notice of her crew. Taking a deep breath, she let out an ear rattling scream, releasing a sonic wave towards the leader, launching him into the air and away from the Merry. For the other non-devil fruit users, they could only hold onto their heads as their ear drums popped, causing a red liquid to leak out of their ears.

Zoro grimaced, not expecting something like this from the pristine Seraphina. He ran over to her and knocked her out cold with the back of his sword, landing a strong blow on her stomach. How she didn't notice, he'll never guess. He let the panicked soldiers of the that idiot man run around him as he held the bluenette in his arms. Zoro looked down at the pool of blood, noticing how there was a body missing.

 _Oh good,_ he thought to himself as he watched the Drum-obsessed crew scrambled back onto their ship while stuttering something about rescuing their leader. Zoro shifted Seraphina's weight in his arms, focusing on her shallow and inconsistent pants. _They decided to clean up after themselves._

"Vivi!" He voice was gruff. The conscious bluenette snapped her head from the retreating ship to the swordsman. He gestured to the sweaty body in his arms. "What the hell was that? And why is she half-naked?"

"It's just an ability she has. Her people don't do it often. And Nami and I were trying to dress her. We got her to wear the shawl, but we couldn't get her to wear a shirt." Vivi made her way to the sleeping form resting in Zoro's arms. She saw Zoro's raised eyebrow when she pushed back Seraphina's damp hair from her face. "It's just a cultural thing. They don't typically wear anything but something to cover their legs."

Zoro shrugged, not wanting to delve too deeply without input from the woman herself and headed back under the deck to finally put the woman in his arms to rest. He slipped her under the covers, noticing the way the sheets were clean and unwrinkled. Seraphina grabbed at his hair, tangling her fingers in his short locks as Zoro lifted her arm off his shoulders. The swordsman gently pried off her fingers and tucked her under the covers.

"Ah, I changed the sheets while you guys were doing stuff upstairs," Nami's voice sounded from behind him.

"I was wondering who did that."

Vivi came walking down the stairs with two glasses of water in her hands. Setting one down on the bar, she came to sit down by the other bluenette's side. Lifting the woman's head up, the princess opened her mouth and poured the water down her throat, making sure to not spill the much-needed liquid. "She's losing liquid quickly. Someone needs to give her two glasses of saltwater every hour."

"Saltwater? Won't that dehydrate her?" Nami narrowed her eyes.

"Not her."

"I'll do it," Zoro volunteered to the slight shock of Nami and the confusion of Vivi. Nami shrugged and went off to clean the sweat soiled bed sheets. Vivi followed after the orangette, going back on deck to gather more saltwater. Zoro sat down on the floor, his back leaning against her bedside, slowly lured into sleep by the memory of her harp playing and her shallow pants.

He was gently woken by the soft touches of a woman's hand gently caressing his hair. Nails lightly pulled through his hair, sending shivers down his spin as he quickly recalled who was resting on the bed. He shifted, causing the blanket on him to fall off as he peered at the still unconscious woman playing with his hair. Zoro smirked at her; she must be dreaming. He replaced his blanket and snuggled back under the warmth of the fabric and tried going back to sleep.

A pounding of a hammer stirred him from his sleep. He didn't like that. If he, a heavy sleeper, was woken up, what would that do to Seraphina. Guessing it was morning, the swordsman pushed the sheet off him and tossed it to the side, watching the bluenette laying almost completely still. Zoro pushed back her fallen hair and headed out on deck to find the maker of the hammering noise. It got louder as he headed up the stairs, only pausing at the door, finding himself unable to open the door just in case it woke Seraphina.

"How's the patch work going?" Vivi asked someone outside, her voice muffled by the layers of wood between her and Zoro.

"Fine." Ah, it was Usopp who was fixing the ship. That wasn't surprising.

"Hey, Vivi," the shitty cook called out to the other bluenette. "Why's it been so cold lately?"

"That must be because we're getting close to an island. A stable climate means an island. There are four types of islands: winter, fall, spring, and summer." Vivi explained. "I guess we're getting close to a winter island."

"What island is yours?"

Zoro heard a laugh. "Seraphina and I actually have the same type of island. A summer island."

"Oh hey!" Zoro heard Sanji's voice again. "You're right. I can see an island!"

Zoro left the door when he heard his captain's feet pattering against the wooden planks in excitement. He was such a pain to travel with sometimes, but Zoro has to give it to him for his reliability. The swordsman went over to the murmuring musician, gently stirring her out of her deepening slumber. He was met with a delicate hand swat.

"Seraphina," he whispered in her ear. Another gentle push. "You need to get dress. We're taking you into town."

"Aria," he heard her whisper, her accent coming out more. "Stop. I'm tired."

"I'm not Aria," he grasped the damp sheets, his eyes widening at the amount the woman had sweated out already. The had changed her sheets once in the morning; she was quickly losing fluid. With a quickly snap of his wrists, he yanked the sheets off of her, exposing her bare skin to the cold air of the cabin. Her eyes widened in shock. Well, she was wake now. "Come on. We have to get you dressed."

Seraphina curled into a ball, refusing to move from her cozy spot on the bed. She shook her head, her head pulling on her hair that was plastered to her wet skin. Zoro grabbed a nearby shirt— not caring whose it was— and forced the unhappy bluenette into the pink shirt as he pulled her down from the bed. The color clashed against her eyes, making the beautiful golden hues appear as if they were a muddy amber. The woman gave an unhuman shriek as she struggled to crawl back into the warm sheets, her anklets jingling with each pathetic kick she gave to Zoro.

"You're acting like a child," Zoro caught a kick and pulled the struggling woman back closer to him. "Now stay still so I can get this jacket on you."

She mewled as she continued to push back away from the heavy and restricting clothing. It was not her people's way. Seraphina didn't want it. She wanted the water. It would save her. It always did. She wanted to bath in the cooling springs of her home, she wanted to run her hands through her cousins' hair as she braided their rainbow locks, she wanted to see her father again. She wanted to go home.

Instead Seraphina was here getting forced into a heavy wool coat. Zoro released the whimpering barmaid when he was happy that she wouldn't take off the articles of clothing while he went to get her saltwater. Taking the glass of water off the bar counter, the swordsman gathered the limp bluenette in his arms and set the cool glass against her lips, waiting for her commands. She licked her dry lips and Zoro tilted the water back. Seraphina quickly lapped up the saltwater, chugging the salty liquid as if it was life or death. Which it might be.

A loud bang startled the two, spilling the much-needed glass of water onto the carpet, which was met with a soft whimper. Zoro leaned the bluenette against wall, careful with her as he knew she was quite delicate in her current state. He picked up the glass and set it on the counter. The swordsman skipped steps as he climbed the stairs, slamming open the door to find a princess tackling his captain to the ground. Hands flung to his swords.

"What the hell happened?"

Vivi held up her hands. "Zoro! No! Luffy! This isn't a problem you can solve by fighting!" The princess scrambled upright on her knees, a plead written into the orbs of her eyes. She dropped low, bowing to the man on the ice shelf. "We wouldn't step foot on your country. But, please, we need a doctor!"

Luffy watched the bluenette drop into a low bow, her hands shaking as she kept her face into the wooden planks. He realized his mistake now. What would happen to Phinie if had attacked the soldiers? So he joined the princess, dropping his head low so that Shank's hat fell off. "We only ask for a doctor. We need to save our friend!"

"Fine," the man on the ice shelf spoke, gesturing to the others as he did so. They began to disperse. "We'll lead you to our town."

"Thank you!" Vivi sprung up from her bow, a relieved smile on her face. She turned to Luffy. "See?"

Luffy nodded a smile on his face. "Zoro, get Phinie! We've got to save her!"

 **We are moving forward quite quickly. Read and review!**


	10. The Ocean's Dreams

**It's really nice to just take some liberties on this chapter.**

 _Waves crashed at her bare feet, licking at her ankles in a tempting way that only her kind would understand. The bluenette savored the soft caress of the deep blue waves that her ancestors had lived on for centuries, cultivating their lives and culture. Her gold eyes closed; she took in the salty sent of the beach. She won't be able to swim now. At least not that much compared to how much she used to with her cousins at the Lagoon. It'll be alright; she'll only be gone for three years at the most. It was the only way her mother would let her go._

 _"Three years, Seraphina. Three years. And that's it. You have other duties." Her mother spoke to her as if she was still a child. She was fifteen. Old enough to travel a safe Blue Sea alone._

 _"My little fish," her father's deep voice came from behind her. He had agreed to take her to the East Blue, another mandatory condition of her mother's, and had met up with his daughter at the White Lagoon, waiting on his daughter to arrive from the Cove. It was odd for him to be here, encroaching on White Beard's territory. But nonetheless, he was here._

 _His daughter turned to him with a bright smile on her face. She looked so much like her mother. With her light blue hair pouring over she shoulders like the light blue liquid falling from waterfalls and her soft face, it was hard to not see Sabrina's features showing itself in his daughter's face. Her skirt— which was just a cut piece of fabric tied around her waist— spun in a circle as she turned, catching itself in the strong Grand Line wind. Seraphina opened her arms wide, welcoming him in for a hug. "Papa!"_

 _Mihawk caught the young girl in his arms, wrapping her tight to his chest. Her hair flew into his face, surrounding him with the faint scent of his lover. He wanted to savor his time with his daughter; they don't get to see each other very often. Seraphina let go, yet still clinged to his shirt while she smiled up at him. "Seraphina. You seem excited."_

 _She nodded quickly, a smile still locked on her face. "Do you think we could see Uncle Shanks? It's been a while."_

 _"Perhaps." Her father looked her over. She would not be able to travel like how her people dressed. He understood why her people dressed how they did. They did not care about modesty— her people mated for life. And it was also extraordinarily hot. Combine that with the humidity and anyone would have absolutely drenched clothing by the end of the day. Nonetheless, she would have to learn how to wear a shirt by the time she starts traveling alone. "We might run into him as we leave the Grand Line."_

 _"What's East Blue like, Papa?" Seraphina had started making her way to his ship, her anklets clinking together as she walked, something he was quite unused to. It had been so long since he'd last seen her— she only had one gold anklet the last they'd met. In three years, she would be receiving her third._

 _"Cooler." He replied._

 _"I wonder if I'll meet anyone," his daughter smiled to herself, her sight off in the distance, no doubt romanticizing about the future and other things a young teenage girl day dreamed of._

 _Mihawk frowned, aware of her family's agreement with Fishman Island. "You can't be thinking of that, Seraphina."_

 _Her smiled faltered on her face, guilting him into feeling bad. He didn't want to make her upset. He knew how much she didn't like the arrangement. Her people didn't choose their mates, it just happened. They weren't arranged._

* * *

"I've never seen anything like this." A deep voice rumbled from beside her, no doubt coming from a man. A man who sounded like he was a leader. Seraphina tried to look at the voice coming from beside her, only to find that her vision was blurry.

She let out a weak gasp.

"Her fever is quickly rising," Vivi whispered near her. At least Vivi was here.

"You said her eyes turned black?" The same previous voice asked.

"Yeah," her captain's chef spoke. "We've never seen her do that before. And she puked a black substance."

She needed salt water. She needed her ocean.

Seraphina tried to stir, to tell her crew that the eye thing was normal. But she couldn't. She couldn't even move. It's like the sweat on her limbs had held her down with its weight. She'll just go back to sleep….

* * *

 _"Seraphina!" Her red-haired cousin moaned at her, sitting on the beach as the waves licked at their lower limbs. The red-head huffed at the younger light-haired girl. The other smirked at her elder, playing with the seashells that the other had gathered. "You're supposed to be helping me!"_

 _"I am!" The twelve-year-old yelled back, picking up a small shell and waving it in the air. "I told you to use this one!"_

 _"Seraphina! Seriously! You know I need this to pass the test!" The fourteen-year-old groaned back. Seraphina knew about the test. Every girl had to go through the test to be declared a warrior of their people. It's how she'll get her next golden anklet. Making a piece of jewelry was just one part of many for the test._

 _Seraphina found a black shell lying half covered in sand. Removing the shell from the sand, the grainy material falling off the wet shell as she held it up for her cousin to see. Something about how the white strands laid across black background drew the golden eyes of the Belcher to the shell. "Aria?" Light blue eyes met the object in her hands. "How about this?"_

 _"Hey! Seraphina! Aria!" A combination of three voices drowned each other out as the owners raced over to the stationary girls. Small baskets were carried in their hands, the boys unceremoniously dropping the baskets onto the sand below their feet. Three boys stood before the two girls, their mischievous smiles on their faces._

 _"Servastien," Aria had a frown on her face. "You were supposed to be here a while ago."_

 _"Oh calm yourself. We got here eventually," Shen rolled his eyes, waving his hand in front of his face. "We got the shells."_

 _"You guys are supposed to be listening to us." Seraphina spoke, putting a small hand on her hips. "We're older than you guys."_

 _"Oh shut up," Saer rolled his eyes, mimicking his twin's face exactly. "Just cause you're related to us doesn't mean that you two can boss us around."_

 _"Yes, it does," the two girls responded immediately._

 _"Nuh uh." The eldest of the boys responded._

 _"Uh huh." Aria threw at glob of sand at her other cousin._

 _"Hey!" Servastien wiped the sand from his bare chest, glaring at his elder cousin. "I would push you, but Marco said that real men don't push ladies."_

 _"Cause he knew you wouldn't be able to beat us," Seraphina sneered at the boys, a smirk growing on her face. Shen's and Saer's fins twitched on their head— one of their only traits they had received from their fishman father other than their webbing. Servastien's eye's narrowed, his human hands clenching._

 _Servastien stuck his tongue out, fitting a child of his age. The nine-year-old kicked the bucket of shells out onto the beach, scattering the already half broken shells out onto the snow-white sand of the White Lagoon. "You're just jealous that I'm going to be a pirate, Seraphina!"_

 _She rolled her eyes at him and ignored his jest. "And why would I want to be a pirate?"_

 _"You guys!" Another voice joined in their bickering. However, this time the voice was more mature, filled with more wisdom than the children playing on the sand. It was their Aunt Aquata who was standing on the beach, near the river opening that led to the village. Her bright blond hair shone in the sunlight as the five children knew that they had messed up in their shouting match. "You five should not be squabbling like animals."_

 _Shen sheepishly played at his purple hair as Servastien picked at his own green hair. Aria lifted her head, a smirk on her face. "We're just doing what you and your sisters are doing."_

 _The children's guilty faces broke into smiles, knowing that they had made a successful jab at their aunt. Every evening, when their grandmother had called them in to dine together, their aunts squabbled like the sibling they were, all seven and loud women. Aquata frowned._

 _"Ahahahaha," another voice joined in. The children looked off to Aquata's side to find Servastien's father with another child in his arms. The human male laughed as the child in his arms squirmed from his loud father's laugh. "They got you there, Aquata!"_

 _Aquata put her face in her palm. This is where the children get it. From the men in the Belcher family. "Your grandmother would not be proud of her grandchildren becoming pirates. Watch yourself, Servastien."_

 _"I wouldn't be too sure of that, sister," Seraphina's mother spoke from behind her sister, startling the younger. Aquata didn't open her mouth, aware of who Sabrina had hung around in her younger years: pirates. The Red-Haired Pirates._

* * *

"The doctor is witch," the same previous deep voice rumbled again.

"That's fine. Anything to get her healed." Sanji's gruff voice responded. Seraphina could almost imagine Vivi quickly nodding her head at his words.

A hand gently patted her damp cheeks— that was probably the cause of her waking up from her dream. Another pat.

"Hey," her captain whispered to her. "We have to get you up the mountain to get you a doctor. So we'll have to go on a hike okay?"

She wouldn't have had said no even if she could.

"What the hell, Luffy?" Sanji exclaimed. "You can't drag her up there!"

"It's okay. She's strong! Right, Phinie?"

"Lu—" she choked out. "Luffy."

Another gentle pat to her cheek. "It's okay, Phinie. I got you!"

* * *

 _"Hey, little birdy," he cooed to the nine-year-old as she shivered in his lap, wrapped tightly around his black cloak. He tried to stop her whimpers, but he wasn't really good with kids. Luffy was just an odd outlier. The waves rocked the ship as he patted her head and hugged her tightly to his chest as the little Belcher cried in his arms. "Phina…."_

 _"W—where's P—Papa?" The bluenette asked him, looking up with teary eyes at the grown man ready to crumble under her heart tearing golden orbs._

 _Shanks brushed off her dried blood, his own rage growing as he took in the little girl's battered appearance, his rage ready to tear into the people who had done this to his little birdy. Her tears shook him. He was her uncle, sworn to protect her when Mihawk couldn't, and here he was trying to sooth back the previously laughing little girl back to her normal self, something he didn't know if she was able to return to. Another sob from the little girl was enough to bring him to his knees if he wasn't already sitting on the floor next to her._

 _"Shanks!" A small Seraphina clenched her fists in his shirt, tugging at the poor clothe harshly. The ship rocked violently as she yelled, striking a deep fear within him that had been seeded by her mother. Sabrina's voice ran through his head as the ship lurched his crew, no doubt being controlled by the waves their ship sailed on._

 _Not even Shanks could control the ocean._

 _At least they were safe inside his cabin. He gently put his hand over her own, silently calming her already before he cupped her cheek and gave her a fatherly kiss on her forehead. Shanks hugged her close with his one arm; she had always loved being hugged tightly._

 _"He's with your mother. They'll—"_

 _"I want Papa!" Her shrill voice shook the seas, sending the ship lurching to the side as her cries left her sore throat._

 _Shank's eyes widened as he quickly let go of the small Belcher to catch themselves from falling over and landing on the hard, wooden planks of the ship. His heart beat quickened from the fear rising in his chest, something he wasn't used to. Where's Mihawk? "Hey little fishy…." He cooed to the small girl in his lap. "He's coming. Don't worry."_

 _Her fingers tightened around his shirt, pulling the rough fabric as her sobs started to die down to a soft whimper. "I just want Papa…."_

 _"I know, little fishy, but—"_

 _Shanks was interrupted the loud slam of his cabin door being practically knocked down by his first mate's powerful fist. His serious face as grave as ever, the man gave a quick glance to the crying girl in his arms. He mouthed something to his captain, warnings over Seraphina's justified tantrum. Shanks nodded; he already knew that she needed to be calmed down— if they wanted to survive the night._

 _"They're back!" Someone had shouted over the storm releasing itself down on his crew._

 _Apparently, her own cries had led her father to her, almost as if Seraphina had been calling the man to her by his own name. Shanks wouldn't have been surprised if something inhuman— supernatural— had been connecting the father and daughter duo together. Although, perhaps, it was merely because of who the Belchers' where. Even Sabrina had a special connection to her own father. Nonetheless, Shanks knew that Mihawk would always be able to find Seraphina if she was desperate enough to call to him from miles away by that special connection._

 _"Where is she?" His voice boomed throughout the ship. He was close, Shanks could tell. From Mihawk's harsh and quick pounding of his steps, anyone could tell that the man was desperate to find his daughter and wrap his arms around the crying little girl. As her tears fell harder from hearing her father's voice, the rains picked up, showering the sea with its fresh water._

 _Shanks ignored the deep red splatters scattered on the man's clothes and went off to find the girl's mother. There were important matters to be discussed. He watched the father envelope the small girl in his arms, practically flooding the small figure with his dirty clothe. As Seraphina's sobs quieted, and she calmed herself, Shanks could notice how the waves settled themselves down. He left the two to themselves, knowing that only Mihawk could calm Seraphina. Shanks stepped out of the cabin, catching sight of a deadly creature before him, coated head to toe in a deep red liquid dripping onto his once clean deck._

 _"Shanks."_

 _Her voice was smooth, just like silk. It caressed your ear, bringing out the vilest of emotions and urges from all types of men. It was truly an ability reserved only for the most mature and seducting creatures of all. The woman's eyes were a deep black, a black that only absorbed light. It caught your attention, dragging you into the creature's hypnotizing trap, locking you in her inescapable claws. Her nails were as sharp as daggers, unable to hurt a child yet able to tear a steel ship to pieces. The creature's hair even led you into her. The light blue locks poured over her shoulders like a solid waterfall, a stark contrast to the red splattered across her body._

 _However, most alarming was her teeth. Replacing a dull row of pearly white teeth laid a sharp row of razor-sharp teeth that was showcased unintentionally by the thick red liquid rolling down her chin and landing on the deck with a splat. She was covered in blood, mostly being concentrated in her mouth area and hands. Her people really did like to use their hand in combat._

 _Yet she was still beautiful._

 _"Sabrina."_

 _Her eyes slowly turned back to their normal emerald green irises, her teeth retracting to a normal row. Her nails shrunk back to their normal size— a nice medium length. She turned her head, spitting out a red lump over the side of his ship. The woman gestured to the skies with a thin finger. Her accent was thick. "The heavens are crying."_

 _"The seas are calming," he responded to her._

 _"The ocean must not stir again," her voice reached out to him, stirring his own turmoil within himself. "Its calls are overpowering her. She cannot handle it."_

 _"Aye." They had already known that. Seraphina was what the ocean had been calling._

 _And she had the ability to respond._

* * *

"Be careful with her, Luffy!" Sanji's voice screamed, yet he sounded distant.

Seraphina frowned as Luffy rocked her back and forth. _What was he doing?_

"You can't fight!" Sanji screamed again.

Luffy… was… fighting… with her on his back. Alright. Makes sense. That must have been what the rocking was from.

"Don't worry! I got her!"

* * *

 _A scream pierced the silence, alerting all that heard of the death that had happened within the Belcher home. This cry was something Seraphina was unused to. She had never heard her mother let out a cry so painful and so heavy as this one. She knew her grandfather was dying, but for him to actually go…. It was odd. She wasn't prepared. And neither was her mother._

 _"Go to her, Seraphina," her grandmother cooed to her. Seraphina didn't know why her grandmother wasn't in pieces._

 _With a gentle push, Seraphina was on her way in small steps towards her mother. Pushing past the other members of her family, they let her through to where her mother was crouching over her grandfather's now cold body. He was resting on a straw-weaved cot, a simple bed for someone who loved simple things._

 _Seraphina joined her mother and spotted the crudely made bracelet around his strong wrist. She had made that bracelet, for her test, and seeing the seashell bracelet that she had made for him resting on his wrist had brought out something that she promised wouldn't bubble up. A wave of sadness drove into her, shattering her delicate poker face._

 _A thin hand pulled her away from his body. Her mother wrapped her arms around her, nudging the both of the out the door so that the others could bury him. She, and her mother, would not watch. They couldn't. Her mother had relied on Seraphina's grandfather through so much. Back when she was a reckless girl, after her mother would rip her to pieces, her father would coddle her back together. For Seraphina, he was a man to be respected. He was the one to introduce her to swords; the history, the technique, and the respect towards the blade. He helped her create something that she and Mihawk could bond over._

 _Sylvia's mate wasn't the greatest swordsman in the world but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she had the basics, enough that Mihawk could help her learn the rest. And that was fine. She typically didn't fight with swords anyways._

 _She didn't need to watch her grandfather be buried. She already knew what happened to those who perish that are of their people. Her grandfather would be buried on the ocean floor, a siren's soul placed on top of him to use his lifeless body to grow. It was an odd plant. It glowed pink and purple under the sea with its long leafy like appendages flowing in the current. It was beautiful. An appropriate grave maker for her grandfather._

 _"He will be with the waves," her mother whispered in her ear as she gently rocked herself and her daughter._

 _"His soul with the stars," Seraphina whispered back._

 _"And his voice in the sea foam…."_

* * *

A heavy object landed on top of her, crushing her as she shivered with the white powder surrounding her limbs. Seraphina managed to open her eyes, only to find white blinding her eyes. She let a noise. Her whimper moved the warm body next to her, giving her captain a good enough push to get him to start climbing out of the packed snow.

"Don't worry, Phinie," his warm breath was felt against her cheek. "I'll get you safe."

She felt him shuffle next to her.

"Trust me."

And she did.

* * *

 _"Grandpa!" The small girl shouted at him, kicking the sand that she stood on. "Why? I don't like running!"_

 _"It's to build up your endurance. It will help you swim faster!" Her grandfather slammed his fist in his open palm. His white beard shook with frustration at his favorite granddaughter. "You must do this to become a better swordswoman! Even the best!"_

 _"I don't want to be a swordswoman!" The eight-year-old pouted. "Mama said I would conquer the seas!"_

 _He mimicked her pout, almost an exact replica of the girl's. "Well you might face someone out there who needs to be defeated by swords. Or maybe you'll need the skill to impress someone."_

 _The girl stuck out her tongue, already knowing where her grandfather was going with his words. Soon he'll be telling her about how her father and mother met. By mutual want to beat up a certain Red-Haired Pirate. Shanks definitely got his ass kicked that day._

 _"You know, your parents—"_

 _"Blah blah blah," the girl bolted off, wanting to get her training over with so she could play with the mermaids at Fishman Island. Her bare feet felt odd over the dry sand. It felt grainy and rough. It burned your feet when the sun grew too hot. She could deal with heat, but when it was dry heat…. That was a whole other story._

 _That's why she loved the water. It easily flowed through your fingers as you went along the current. And it was wet and cool. It was refreshing in a way. But most of all, it was home. Her home._

* * *

"Phinie!" His voice called to her from the dark. She could barely open her eyes, let alone see. "I won't give up!"

With a hard push, Luffy slung her over his shoulder and on to the snow blanket at the top of the mountain. Seraphina, disgruntled enough from being woken from her dream, stared down Luffy, noticing him sling another black figure over his shoulder. Her eyes widened as much as they could. It was a knocked out Sanji. He landed in the snow next to her.

She whipped her head around fast enough to catch the sight of Luffy slowly falling down the mountain as the snow lid from beneath him. Seraphina bolted, hooking her claws deep into Luffy's rubber flesh. Piercing his skin and recoiling from the nasty sound of his flesh breaking, the sick woman used the last of her strength to haul the rubber boy into the safety of her arms. Just as she felt her eye lids grow heavy, she saw a dark figure stalking towards them.

Luffy stirred. "H—hel—p them…."

 **That's all I have for this chapter. Leave a review!**


	11. The Ocean's Monster

**Thanks so far for all the lovely reviews! They really help!**

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that she felt better. So much better. The second was that she was naked and covered in damp towels….? Seraphina sat up, effectively disturbing the large towel that was resting on her chest, allowing the fabric to fall off her chest with a loud plop. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she was exposed to the cold, dry air in the castle. She brought the towel to her nose.

"Salt water…."

She moved her eyes, searching for anything other than weird looking medieval items hanging around the castle. Sera raised her brow, not expecting the Straw Hats to bring her to some whack job. Whose ever castle this was had an impressive collection, she'll have to admit. An odd collection but still impressive.

Seraphina kept scanning the room, finding a pile of her clothes on a stand and catching a moving reindeer carrying a pot of herbs. Eyes blinking rapidly, she quickly rubbed her eyes to make sure she had seen that animal. When she opened her eyes, she found it staring back at her with wide eyes.

"Are you a mink?—"

It interrupted her with a squeak, skittering away to behind the stone wall, attempting to hide its body from her view to only fail pretty damn bad. It was shaking in its hooves, no doubt afraid of the intimidating woman. Although she was naked, so she doesn't know how intimidating she was now.

"Poor thing," she mused to herself. "I probably scared it."

"You don't scare me!" The animal shouted to her. Seraphina jolted from her bed, not expecting the animal to talk back to her.

"Oh my god," her eyes widened. "You can talk and you're not a mink?"

The animal made a shout. "Doctorine!"

"Chopper!" Someone in another room shouted. The voice sounded old, yet it still contained life. "What are you doing in there?"

The animal shook out a squeak as he hid from the Straw Hat. An older woman stepped into the room, her long hair resting over her shoulders as she chugged her drink. The woman analyzed the sick Belcher. Eyes glazing over the bluenette's form from behind a pair of sunglasses, the elder gave a smirk. "So you're awake. And you seem to be doing better."

The bluenette nodded, taking silent note of how the salt water was feeling on her bare skin. Lovely. "I'm assuming you two were the ones to treat me?"

"You assume correctly, girl," the elder doctor nodded. Doctorine raised her brow when she caught sight of the younger woman lifting up her damp towels and peering at her legs. The doctor supposed that the pirate was examining herself for shimmering patches. "I made sure there wasn't enough water for that."

Seraphina dropped the towel, an unreadable look on her face. She peered into the pure white cloth, her hand patting at the wetness of the fabric. "How did you find out? Did my crewmates figure out?"

The doctor set down her drink on a nearby table. Shooing a still frightened Chopper out of the room, the woman narrowed her eyes even further at the younger woman in front of her. Suspicion ran through her head. She leaned back, keeping her eyes dead set on the untrusting bluenette. _How has she not told her crew yet?_

"You haven't told them." The doctor's tone was accusatory.

"No."

"And the boy cared so much for you to carry you up a 5000-meter-tall mountain just to get to me," Doctorine responded, watching as a flash of guilt moved across the bluenette's face. "It's odd someone of your stature would even be traveling at your age. Unless, you're searching for a mate….?"

"No," Seraphina rolled her eyes. "I cannot. I am merely traveling."

The doctor a noise of content. "Well, your companions are fine. They were in bad shape, but they'll be fine. As for you, you're lucky that Chopper smelled something different about you. I could have killed you had I thought you were human. Perhaps you should have told them."

Sera nodded, a thin line resting on her lips. She narrowed her golden eyes. "No. They cannot know."

"Well, someone needs to know," the elder put her hands on her hip. "You almost died, girl. They need to know how to treat you if you get sick. They especially need to know to not expose you to black water. That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen."

Seraphina leaned forward, resting her head in her hands as she brought her knees closer to her body. Letting the wet fabric slip from her body as she delved into her thoughts. She knew there was something wrong with the water they had given to her back on Little Garden. The doctor watched as Seraphina's emotions played on her face, unease and turmoil crashing against each other like waves on a shore.

A loud crash startling the women from their thoughts, yanking them out of their minds as a ball of mass flew into the room, taking down the hard wall of bricks as it came crashing into the warm room. A flurry of blond hair and red fabric overwhelmed Seraphina's eyes. With quiet whispers from the doctor over quick recoveries, Seraphina surmised that the ball of limbs consisted of at least Sanji and Luffy.

"I'm not food!" The tiny reindeer from earlier shouted as he slipped from the human ball and scampered off, hiding from her crew mates.

"Get back here!" Luffy screamed, disturbing the bluenette's delicate ears.

"Luffy!" She frowned at him. "Let him be!"

Luffy skidded to a stop once he heard her admonish him. Sanji, not being quick enough, landed himself firmly into Luffy's rubbery back. She flinched, not liking how the collision sounded to her ears, especially with already odd noises of Luffy's devil fruit. However, Luffy paid no mind to Sanji, instead focusing on the naked woman in front of him. His lips pulling into a wide smile, the reindeer was forgotten.

"Phinie!"

"Sera-swama!"

Seraphina was tackled into the bed, a heavy weight pressing into her as she struggled to breath with the rubbery mass squirming on top of her body. Her hands pressed against Luffy's face and pushed against his body. Small grunts passed through her lips as Luffy's laughs drowned out all noises from her ears. She cracked a smile. Strong hands peeled her captain from her, letting her breath a much-needed gasp of air.

"Luffy!" Sanji whacked his captain. "What the he—"

Sanji's words stopped in his mouth when his eyes laid themselves upon Seraphina's bare body, taking in the soft creamy skin of her bosom and her gentle curves of her figure. He choked on air. His heart stopped. Blood rushed through him. Like lightning, Sanji grabbed a nearby towel and snapped the fabric over her bare top, smothering her in white, almost like a bride. The thought passed through his mind. Sanji gulped, trying to discreetly wipe away the thin line of red running from his nose. He was failing miserably.

"What the hell was that?" The doctor behind him questioned. "You got a problem with tits, kid?"

"Sanji!" Luffy gave him an odd look.

"No," Sanji choked out, peering at the light blue hair scattered on the bed. They looked like waves on the ocean.

Hands poked from the fabric, swatting away any nearby persons from the bed. Her head popped up next with an angry frown visible on her pale face, her glare meant for only one person this time. Her golden orbs shone in the light. Her lips were pulled into a puffy pout. Her brows furrowed. Her thin hands held the damp cloth to her breasts. "What the hell, Sanji?"

"I couldn't let you go exposed like that, Sera-swama."

"Oh my god, Sanji. I can't belie—"

"You'd better watch your language!" A loud slam alerted the two Straw Hats to face the commotion. Luffy was firmly planted into the stone wall. Seraphina raised her eyebrows in alarm.

"Fuck," Sanji whispered. "Old lady is strong."

"Luffy!" Seraphina admonished her captain. "What did you say?"

Luffy bounced up from his spot from in the wall. "Old lady! Join my crew!"

The doctor rolled her eyes at him. "No. I don't care about going to the ocean."

"So? It's okay if you don't care—" Luffy paused, catching something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face the doorway, allowing to Seraphina to finally find what was so important that Luffy got distracted from getting another crew member. Her heart sank when she found that it was the reindeer. Luffy bolted from his spot and began to chase the animal. "Food!"

Doctorine leaped out of her seat, chasing after the other Straw Hats with a slight panic alight in her eyes. She bounded through the door, right on the Straw Hats' tail. "Hey! Stop that, you brats!"

Seraphina grimaced. They had left the door open. How rude. A strong blast of cold air flew in, wrapping itself around her bare arms and chilled the towels several degrees. How unpleasant. She sighed, knowing that she would have to close the door lest she wanted the entire room to be covered in snow and ice. The woman swung her leg over to the side, recoiling at the stone's cold touch on her naked feet.

"Just stay in bed." Blue hair whipped around as she faced the voice. It was the reindeer again, standing before her on his hind legs and his cute hat. He waddled over to door, looking carefully to make sure that her crew members were far from him before he shut the door. "You need to reabsorb as much saltwater as you can to make sure that the black water is purged from you."

"Thank you," she breathed out, exhaustion written in her voice.

"Stop that!" The reindeer shouted to her shock. A bright red blush was seen through his fur as a smile grew on his face. "That doesn't make me feel good!"

Seraphina couldn't help but smile. This reindeer was adorable. The reindeer bit his lip when he caught her smiling at him. He blushed a deeper red and waddled back over to stand to dip another towel in saltwater. He walked back to her to place the cloth on her lap.

"Are you pirates?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a pirate flag?"

"Of course." She gave him an odd look. "Why are you so interested in pirates?" She was met with no answer. "Do you want to be a pirate?" He gave her a pointed look, one filled with suspicion. Seraphina raised her eyebrow at this. "Do you want to join us?"

The reindeer widened his eyes at her, shock was worn freely with his expression. His mouth gaped, showing off his pointed teeth. He quickly calmed himself, pulling his mouth into a thin line while his eyes drooped down. His lips started to quiver. "Don't be ridiculous. How could _I_ live with humans?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a reindeer. I can talk. I stand on two legs. I have a blue nose." He paused. "I'm a monster."

Seraphina stared at him, all too familiar with what he was experiencing. Fishmen, although able to speak and walk just like humans, were classified as fish. Fish. They were sentient, forming families and bonds, yet they were forced to be treated as less than people. No wonder fishmen had started harboring hatred towards humans.

Just as words started forming on her lips, a large crash interrupted her. Guessing that it was her two stupid crew members, Seraphina sent a glare to their direction. She was correct. Luffy and Sanji had busted through a door screaming and shouting for the reindeer. The poor thing bolted off with Luffy and Sanji hot on his heels, leaving the woman to sit on his words.

"I can't believe those two idiots." An older voice spoke. The owner sat down in a nearby chair. Doctorine crossed her arms over her chest.

"Neither can I."

"And what were you telling him?"

"A conversation between a man and a woman is private." Seraphina sent her a smile.

Doctorine scoffed at her words, shaking her head as the bluenette merely kept smiling at her. "You can take him with you. But be warned, it will not be easy. Poor thing has always been rejected."

"What do you mean?"

"He was born with a blue nose. Something normal reindeers do not like. It usually is a sign that something's wrong with the reindeer. So he was rejected by his own parents and his tribe. Then after he ate the human- human fruit, his tribe completely kicked him out. He wandered into a human village but was rejected by them even when Chopper was in his human form. He was called a monster.

"However only one man who treated the reindeer as his son. Dr. Hilruk loved him. And Chopper easily and graciously returned his love."

"Loved?"

"Hilruk's dead."

Seraphina frowned. No wonder the reindeer was hesitant to humans. She couldn't blame him. Even she has had her own interaction with a shitty human here and there, although it wasn't as bad as Chopper's. The bluenette sighed. This was going to be one hell of a recruitment. Or in Luffy's case, a demand. She brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"Do you think he'll want to come with us-?"

"Doctrine!" The said reindeer busted into the room, the door clanging with a strong slam and wind rushing into the warming room. The doctor witch merely raised her eyebrow at him. "It's an emergency! Wapol is back!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Hm… Is that so?"

"Yes!"

"Seraphina of the Water Snake tribe," the older woman started, picking herself up from her seat. She threw another towel at the bluenette. "I've got something to deal with. I need you to stay in that bed and rest."

"Are you sure you don't want me to help? I can—"

"Rest, girl!" Doctrine pushed the woman back into the bed with a hard force. Seraphina must admit that the old lady had some youth to her. That woman was the real monster on this island.

The bluenette watched the pair leave the room, making sure to close the door even in their haste to go deal with that Wapol. Where had she even heard that name? She closed her golden orbs, lying in the warm salty towels still stuck to her bare skin as she raked through her brain trying to recall the name Wapol. Sera frowned.

Who was that?

His name sounded so familiar. She let out an exhausted breath. Her right hand rubbed her face, her own appendage feeling odd against her own skin. What was welcoming, however, was the cold bite of the metal jewelry on her skin. Pink lips breaking out into a smile, the woman relished in the cold sting of metal on her usually hot flesh. It was truly refreshing. Thank god the doctor hadn't removed her jewelry. Seraphina would have panicked.

The barmaid twisted in the bed, lying on her stomach instead of her back. Oddly, she hated sleeping on her back. It must be something to do with how she usually slept back on her island. Unfortunately, the shift had knocked off the towels from her chest, rendering her back completely bare to the extremely harsh cold of Drum Island. She hissed. Her body quivered. With quick hands, the woman snapped the extra towel that Doctorine had given her and placed the warm towel on her back.

With her body now toasty and comfortable, the woman pushed pillow to the ground and simply used her arm. She was much more used to this. Her blinks slowed, slowly getting heavier and heavier as Seraphina focused less on the day's events and more on the crackling of the fire and her quiet breaths. The furnace crackled and roared as it spewed out heat into the room, warming up her own towels into a toasty blanket. It would be even better if she was on the ship. She slept better while rocking on the waves.

 _It was summer._

 _She loved summer. Summer meant that her mother would take her up to the White Lagoon in Paradise to wait for the guardian of her island. Whitebeard. Her mother had always told her to respect him. She said that he was a pirate to be worthy of a Belcher's respect. Seraphina had found it easy to respect him. Whitebeard cared for her Lagoon, her home. If not for him, how many pirate attacks would her people be dealing with?_

 _Her mother did not want to think of that._

 _He is old. What would happen should he perish or his title of Emperor fade? He is human. And one day he will perish just like her own grandfather. Even the strong will die. Her mother taught her this. The strongest sea kings will someday be the weakest. Seraphina herself has even seen some of her seafaring people kill a strong New World sea king. Whitebeard will die. But then what will happen to her people? Her island?_

 _Her mother did not want to think of that._

 _Who will take up the mantle from Whitebeard? Who care for Fishman Island after him? Who will watch over the Lagoons and the Cove? Who will protect her home?_

"PHINIE!"

Seraphina jolted awake, kicking her towels in her slight panic as Luffy slammed open the door with his shout. She was shaken. Having to be ripped from your dream was quite awful, even if the dream was quite unpleasant and stressful. She's probably getting it from Vivi's own stress.

"Phinie!" Luffy bounced over to her. "Have you seen my jacket?"

"Luffy," Sera rubbed her eyes. "What do you need the jacket for? Just stay inside and do something."

"No! I need it."

"Why?" Seraphina gave him an odd look. Luffy scrambled over to a chest, picking the furniture up and smashing it down on the stone floor. "Luffy!"

"We're having a fight!" Her captain threw a pot to the floor.

"A fight?"

Luffy turned around, nodding his head vigorously. "Yup."

"With whom?"

"That Wapol guy you scared off earlier."

Seraphina blinked. Some guy she scared off earlier? What in the world was he talking about. She hadn't scared off anyone. She stupidly got her ass kicked in Little Garden. Nothing happened to her in Logue Town. She didn't really scare off anyone in Cocoyasi Village. The Straw Hats mostly kicked ass there. And technically Zoro scared off the rat man, not her. Maybe…. No. It couldn't be that Pearl guy. She thought she had killed him. "Who exactly?"

Luffy tilted his head. "Don't you remember?" She shook her head in more confusion. "Oh well! I still need a jacket tho!"

"Just take mine." Seraphina gestured to her own pile of clothes she had found earlier. There. Luffy can use the jacket that Nami had bought for her in Logue Town. "Just take the jacket."

"No."

"Luffy!"

"It doesn't look cool."

"Oh my god, just take it."

"Okay, fine." Luffy stretched his arm, snatching the jacket from its place on the stand. He quickly scrambled into the clothing. "Imma beat those people up now!"

"Bye Luffy!" Seraphina called after his running form. What an idiot. She laid back down, pondering over the fact that maybe it wasn't okay to just let Luffy go ham on a castle. A castle on a mountain covered in snow. Snow that could cause an avalanche. An avalanche that could pile on top of nearby villages. Ugh. "I can't leave him alone."

She picked herself out of bed, flinching when her feet touched the still cold stone floor. Walking over to the stand her clothes were resting on, she froze. There was only a piece of fabric and a pink shirt. What happened to her actual clothing? She doesn't even have a pink shirt! That was Vivi's! What?! Where were her boots? Her tight pants? Her corset? How the hell was she supposed to cover herself? Who was the dumbass to dress her in that while it was fucking _cold_ as shit out?

The bluenette huffed.

The woman rummaged through other chests, unable to accept the fact that she would have to go shoeless in the freezing snow. Pushing past more odd medieval weapons out of the way, her golden orbs landed on sketchy looking boots. She picked up the old, worn shoes.

"Well…. I guess it'll work."

Slipping on the crusty boots, she continued on with wrapping the makeshift shawl around her waist and pulled the offending pink shirt over her head. She did not match at all, but it would have to work as there was nothing else the woman could find.

"Let's go."

Vivi brushed back her blue hair with her mitten, dead tired after shoveling through all that snow after the avalanche just to find Dalton. Now with Wapol's doctors, she knows that he'll be fine. But she still doesn't know about Seraphina.

"Usopp-san, Zoro-san." The two men looked at her. "Let's go to the top of the mountain. I must see Seraphina. We don't even know if the doctor went back to the castle."

"Vivi," Usopp shook his head. "Look, I know you're worried about Dalton and Alabasta. Calm down. You shouldn't worry so much." Vivi gave him a shocked look. "Luffy and Sanji will take good care of her. They'll take care of any problems. Trust them."

Vivi sighed, knowing that deep down he was right. All of her worrying wouldn't help anyone, probably make it worse. The best she could do was sit tight and think positive—

"Bullshit," Zoro rolled his eyes. "You're just afraid of climbing the mountain."

"So?" Usopp had cried back, his legs shaking. "There are flesh-eating rabbits on that mountain. And monsters!"

Vivi sighed again, only this time out of complete exasperation at the Straw Hats. Really though. What was she expecting from Usopp of all people? She shook her head. These people. Honestly, how does Seraphina deal with them?

"What the hell is that?" Seraphina leaned over to the older doctor, blankly staring at the oddity that was trying to mimic a house. It even had a door and small windows.

"Sera-swama!" A familiar blond tackled her with a hug, of which was ignored by the said woman.

"Shouldn't you be resting, young lady?" Doctorine gave her a pointed look.

"…."

"He calls himself Wapol," she offered anyway. Seraphina nodded. That must be the man Luffy was talking about. "I guess he just turned himself into a house."

"How idiotic." Seraphina pushed Sanji off her.

"Most men are."

The Wapol man opened his mouth wide, towering over his comrades as a thin smile grew on his face. His jaw looked as if it dislocated itself as his mouth expanded in size, growing so large that it looked almost like a black hole as it gaped behind his subordinates. To her surprise, he leaned over and comped down on his subordinates.

Seraphina's jaw dropped when he continued swallowing them, the man paying no mind as they screamed inside his mouth when he bit into their legs. She watched in horror as the man gulped down the two men, the shoes disappearing into the black hole that was his mouth. "What the fuck?!"

The man's arms rose, revealing themselves to be miniature chimneys that spurted out black smoke as the man grimaced. His purple eyebrows furrowed. His door creaked open. "Be prepared for the ultimate result of combined bodies!"

Sanji made a noise of disgust. The bluenette couldn't blame him. What came out of that man's body was a bizarre mix of two humans smashed together to create something that was so offending to the human race. She turned her head from the human mash up. Could she even call it human anymore?

"Whoever dares to go against the king must die!" Wapol screeched. "I am everything to this country! How dare you put that flag up!" Wapol pointed to a flying flag that previously went unnoticed to the woman. It was a pleasant flag with cherry blossoms scattered across the fabric. She rolled her eyes at his antics. "I am the king!"

"If you have to say that you're king, are you really king?" Seraphina sneered the words at him, openly mocking the man with his own words. The more his lips pulled down, the more Seraphina had wanted to laugh. She did not believe this man. This stupid man. "The more you repeat a lie, the less people believe it. You're not a king."

The false king bared his angry teeth at her. He shook in anger as his skin reddened a deeper color that had already been touched by the biting cold. Black smoke puffed out of his chimney as he quivered, rustling loose metal as his shaking disturbed the ridged armor. White fur began to darken as his ash clung with dear life to the pure white. It was quite poetic. His touch on this country had ruined its purity.

"You are a fool," she continued. "How dare you taint the name of King. And how dare you disturb the reverence of flags? They are a symbol, of which should not be disrespected!"

"You want to see disrespect?" Wapol screamed back at her, spit flying in the air as the man raised his arm to the sky, pointing directly at the cherry blossom jolly roger. "I'll show it to you!"

Her eyes widened, knowing full well what the man was going to try and do to the flying flag. His raised arm quaked as he shot a cannon, the metal ball whistling and howling as it was blasted through the air. Time froze for the poor reindeer. Chopper watched in horror as his only remains of his beloved doctor was attacked, doomed to be ripped to shreds by a selfish king. The flag would be irreparable, shreds to be cried over. A symbol to be reduced to merely a fabric.

The reindeer was overcome with grief. How could this have happened? Hilruk was a peaceful man, simply trying to do the world right. He wasn't desperate for power, he wasn't a war monger, he wasn't a greedy politician. He was simply a man trying to help. Why did he deserve to be killed twice?

Chopper, for once in his life, saw red flash before his eyes. A wave of rushing red overcame his body, running his adrenaline sky high. He transformed into his human form. The reindeer's natural brown coat quivered with his anger. The animal let out a roar, his voice ringing out over the land, echoing to hollow cries.

A gentle hand rested itself on his shoulder, a touch so welcoming and kind. He was so unused to it, he paused in his shock. It was a woman's hand, that much he could tell. But it was soft and soothing, almost like a mother's touch. Chopper couldn't believe it, but he started to crave her gentle touch.

"Chopper," Seraphina's voice called to him. He turned to face her, finding a soft expression resting on her face. She pointed to the sky. "Look."

He looked. And sure enough, there was a Straw Hat captain clinging to the top of the roof as he tied the flag pole together with his jacket sleeve. Chopper couldn't help but break out into a smile. He saved the flag.

"A person like you doesn't have a right to destroy a pirate's flag!" Luffy snarled at the false king, his brows furrowing as he shouted. He raised the flag higher, letting the fabric flap around him. "Phinie!"

"Yes, Captain!" Seraphina understood his words perfectly, decoding his tone as perfectly as he had wanted. She knew that tone. It was something her people understood perfectly. Luffy wanted blood. Her captain may not be a killer, but Seraphina knew that he wasn't above at least beating the shit out of someone if they hurt his friends. She tilted her head towards the female doctor. "Keep Sanji down."

Doctorine gave her a mocking salute before knocking down Sanji into the ground and sitting on him. Sanji couldn't hurt himself even more. However, he thought differently, squirming under Doctorine as he repeated something along the lines of helping Sera-sama. The doctor simply ignored him. She wanted to see what the Belcher could do.

The barmaid hissed, growing out her nails to sharp razors as her teeth started to lengthen into a point. If they thought Chopper was monster, then she would show them the devil. Her eyes returned to their black orbs, so black that even light was absorbed. Seraphina let out a piercing shriek, directing her primal warning to the two men standing before her.

Her warning reached all, even the animals on the forest floor. The animals twitched, feeling the overwhelming presence of an even more dangerous animal than a sea king. Even Chopper felt a shiver down his spine and the warning wasn't even directed at him. Humans, however, have lost their primal senses, relying only on logic. Their reasoning would be their downfall when facing a creature of the sea.

Wapol immediately recognized the woman's stance and her shrieks. Fear struck into his eyes as his legs began to give out on him. His smoke stacks had begun to rise in an uneven pattern. He raised his cannon arm, pointing to the now deadly creature that was the Straw Hat's musician. The king's voice, previously arrogant and booming, was now reduced to a quivering mess. "Si- sir—"

"Your Highness?" Chessmarimo questioned.

"It's her! Queen Sabrina!" Wapol screeched. "Chessmarimo, kill her! Kill their queen!"

 **Read and review!**


	12. The Ocean's Killer

**Short chapter today!**

Wapol screeched. "Chessmarimo, kill her! Kill their queen!"

Sanji's eyes widened when he realized that Seraphina's eyes were once again black like how they were on the ship. The chef made a worried noise and turned to the watching doctor. "She's still sick!"

"What are you talking about?" Doctorine tilted her head towards Sanji, still watching Seraphina as she let out another ear-piercing shriek, this time a war call. She dropped down into a running position, and, with her powerful legs, shot herself towards Chessmarimo. The doctor didn't know that Water Snakes could run that fast.

"The eyes!" The blond made odd gestures to his own eyes. "They turned black!"

"Oh that," Doctorine shook her head. _That woman really ought to tell her crew._ "That's normal. It's a sort of primal state that she locked herself into. Don't worry though. She should still be able to barely distinguish friend from foe."

The doctor turned her head back to the bluenette just in time to see the woman reach the mixed human. The woman dodged his comically large wooden hammer, splintering the other one with her claws as she almost spun around his body with her razor nails still out. With a series of four red lines now decorating the grotesque human, the black-eyed woman backed off with a strong jump.

"Her attacks are barely scratches," Sanji mumbled to himself, remembering the deep wounds that were inflicted upon Pearl from the East Blue. "Are you sure she's still not sick?"

"Oh, she's sick alright. Mentally though," Doctorine shook her head. "I guess it's to be expected from her kind. Playing with her prey, how animalistic."

"What are you saying?" Sanji tore his eyes from his previously queenly acting crewmate. She was just getting back into her former running position.

"Her people are a brutal kind of people, chef boy," Doctorine gave him a pointed look. "They're violent, almost savage. But… they are very protective of their loved ones. Almost… motherly. They are good to have as friends, but not of enemies. In fact, I'd say you're lucky to have befriended one so soon."

That answered none of his questions and now he wanted more. "What is she—"

Seraphina let out another scream; this time a snarl. She bolted towards Chessmarimo, her red nails exposed for all to see. Blood splattered across the white snow as razors carved out four more deep red lines into the round body of Chessmarimo. With a flick of her wrist and another twirl of her legs, she spun away from another attack of his, a teasing smile resting upon her pale face. Her lips pulled back to show a row of sharp teeth.

The woman, red splattered and wild, jumped back, just barely able to hold herself back as she let her natural state take over. She mustn't get hit with his attacks. She knows she'll be able to come out unscathed. Chesssmarimo's king wasn't even a strong opponent. Snow kept falling, just starting to cover up the red mess she was leaving behind for someone else to take care of. Her attacks weren't exactly known for being clean.

"Don't make a too big of a mess, girl," Doctorine called out, no doubt noticing the bluenette's bloody pattern.

Seraphina launched herself back to the round opponent, dodging swinging axes and falling hammers. Scooping powdery snow into her palm, she quickly whipped her wrist up and aimed towards his eyes. White powder scattered everywhere, clinging to dense wool in Chessmarimo's clothes and to the Seraphina's blue hair. Blinding the man with white, she spun again; this time sticking close to his body. Latching onto the back of his coat, the woman pulled herself up by digging her claws into his back, piercing his skin and drawing red liquid.

Once on top and practically on his triangle head, she swung her crimson hand in the air and swung down hard, nails implanting themselves deep into the soft neck between the two heads. Chessmarimo screamed as Seraphina continued. Hooking her fingers upwards, moving his tough flesh around and causing more damage, the woman yanked her arm up, pulling his top head with her arm. Weak hands reached for her as she pulled. She knew it was working.

His hands could barely grab onto her shirt and she separated his two heads from each other. Cracking and snapping were music to her ears. Her whole right arm would be covered in the red liquid when she was finished. Chessmarimo wavered, no longer having enough blood to keep himself up. Small legs bent as his heavy body leaned forward, almost toppling the bluenette from off his body. She released her hold on his neck. Maneuvering herself behind him, she leaped back from his dying body, finally pushing the last of him forward into the red drenched snow.

She landed with a soft thud compared to his thunderous splat. Nails shrinking back to their normal form, her eyes returned to their gold as her voice came back. She crossed her arms, spreading the blood to other parts of her body as she gave a gentle smile to her captain. "It's your turn, Luffy."

"Yes!" Luffy bounced up, shooting up his arms in excitement. He looked around the opening, finding no sign of the former king. "Eh?"

"Luffy," Sera sighed. "You let him get away."

"Eh?"

"You were distracted, dipshit!" Sanji exclaimed from under the female doctor.

Luffy panickily looked around, his rubber arms flapping about. "Where is he?"

"Inside," Seraphina rolled her eyes.

"Ah!" Luffy bolted inside, leaving behind his embarrassed crew in a flurry of white.

"And look at you," Doctorine gave her a mocking sneer. She gestured to her body, clearly pointing out the red stains growing on her clothes. Blood, flowing freely from her attacks, was splattered across her body in splotchy patterns, leaving a gruesome print on her jacket. "You're a mess."

Seraphina shrugged. "At least it's not mine."

A crash rung in the distance. Sanji squirmed from beneath the woman, so desperately trying to escape the doctor's hard ass. His arms flailed wildly, almost like black sticks waving back and forth. "Let me go! I've got to help Luffy!"

Doctorine bonked him on the head. "No!"

"Should I go check up on him?" Sera mused to herself.

"Perhaps."

Seraphina nodded at Doctorine's words before flashing the reindeer a quick smile. Who knows what Luffy would do to the poor castle? Following the white trail of footprints, the woman herself left behind a red path. Meandering through the white castle, Seraphina took her time trying to find Luffy. He'll be fine! She paused, however, when she saw a thin, but deep impression in wall. It looked as if someone had been kicked into the wall…. Perhaps someone was. That must have been Luffy.

Something shined in the corner of her eye. Shiny things had always been her weakness. Her legs spun themselves around in a circle, readying themselves to launch herself towards the glistening object. A semicircle of gold was sticking out of the snow, light shining off the yellow metal. Her thin fingers scooped up the golden circle, only to be disappointed when the snow was uncovered to reveal not a bracelet but a key.

"Oh," her face sunk.

A bang shook the castle's foundations. Sera's golden orbs widened when she realized she had foolishly gotten off track by searching the snow for that golden key. Hands shoved it into her pocket as her feet took off to follow the sounds Luffy was making. Her boots, not made for snow, slide on the fluffy powder and slide across compact white ice, giving the female the unwanted experience of ice skating.

Another crash shook the castle, shaking the woman enough so that she fell down flat on her ass. She fell back with a light cry, her claws sinking into the grey stone as she tried to catch herself by putting her hands out behind her. A laughed sounded from behind Seraphina.

"Get your ass up, Snake," Doctorine's voice rang out into the castle. "I've got to get you back to my office."

The Water Snake picked herself up with a frown beginning to form on her face. "Why?"

Doctorine paused in her walking. "Because you're not finished with your treatment. And that dumbass cook hurt himself further."

The bluenette rolled her eyes, yet still followed after the crazy old doctor. She began to pick at her arm, slowly messing with her blood covered arm as it dried to a red crust under the freezing temperatures. Only really used to it being a liquid, the woman was annoyed and irritated at the solid substance clinging to her arm. It itched.

 _Scratch._

 _Scratch._

"You're going to have to wash that." Doctorine's snarky voice pierced through her thoughts. "I don't want it messing up my castle."

"Alright."

Doctorine led the woman to a closed room. The female doctor pushed a door open, revealing a medium sized bathroom which was big enough to include a separate bath tub and shower. How excessive! Just join the two. The bathroom even had a sitting stool in the corner, and a sink and toilet were off to the side as two closet doors rested on either side of the room. _Why need two closets?_

"That closet has towels and other toiletries," Doctorine pointed out the door to her right. "The other door leads to my room that I had you in earlier."

Ah, it wasn't a closet. Sera nodded to her hostess, silently thanking the woman for the use of her personal bathroom. Doctorine left the bluenette to herself and went back to take care of the blond's rebroken spine. The younger woman's hands went to the door knob, checking the locks to make sure that any unknown persons would be unable to sneak themselves into her personal area.

Ditching her bloody clothes, the woman pushed aside the shower curtain and stepped into the shower. With a swish of the curtain, Seraphina pulled the fabric behind her and turned on the water. Cold water splashed over her, raising goose bumps out of her skin and bringing out shivers from the bluenette. She ran her fingers through her hair, her fingers working deep to remove any red from her hair. The bluenette glowed under the water. The liquid cleared away any visible sin from the woman's body as if it was blessed by a holy man, washing away the crimson liquid. She let herself go under the refreshing water.

"This bathroom's pretty big," a deep voice startled her from her trance.

Seraphina jumped with a small squeak. She recognized the voice though. Hands pulling back the thin fabric, her golden eyes peering out into the room to find a green haired swordsman resting himself on the stool she had laid her eyes on earlier. Her eyes squinted at him. Gold took in the deep, dark green full-length fur coat with a light green sash tied around his waist.

"Why the hell are you in here?" Sera stared, flabbergasted at him. "And how did you get here?"

"I heard from the doctor lady that you were in here. And you left the door unlocked," Zoro shrugged and gestured to the door that Seraphina had forgotten to check.

"Alright, but how did you get up here? On the mountain?"

Another shrug. "Vivi said that you guys were up here. So the villagers helped us get up here."

"What are you wearing?" Seraphina furrowed her brows. "I've never seen it before."

"I stole it off some solider," Zoro leaned against the wall.

"Why? Don't you have some on the ship?"

"Yeah, well. I wasn't near the ship when I stole it."

The bluenette shook her head in confusion. He had to have been wandering around without a coat in this kind of weather to not be able to go back to the ship for a coat. He's an idiot. Seraphina retreated to her cold shower to continue scrubbing out the blood from her hair. For some reason, it was extraordinarily difficult to get it out. Must have had something to do with the merged humans' blood. She'll need shampoo. Her hand reached out to grasp nothing.

"Shit," she let the words escape from her lips. Seraphina forgot to get toiletries out of the closet.

"What?"

"I forgot to get shampoo."

She was met with a sigh. "Where is some?"

"In the closet."

 _Scrape._

She stood there silently, her eyes flitting back and forth in the shower, staring at white tiles as scrapes and the sound of shoes tapping against the floor rung in her ears. Cold water continued to rain down on her. Her breathing was steady, relaxed. Zoro could hear her light breathes and was happy to know that her breathing was back to normal. He opened the closet. The swordsman's eyes widened when he took in all of the different types of shampoos and moisturizers. He was out of his element.

"Uh…."

"What?"

"There's like, hundreds of different shampoos." Zoro merely stared blankly at the large closet.

"Just pick one. I just need to get the blood out of my hair. I'll deal with my hair's salt and moisture standards later."

Zoro gapped at her words. " _Salt and moisture standards?"_

"Just get me the shampoo, Zoro," Seraphina rolled her eyes at him. "And some soap."

The green haired man shook his head before quickly grabbing something off the shelf and walking over to the white shower curtain. What was everything white in here? His hands took a hold of the fabric, pulling it back to reveal a startled bluenette who was currently giving him a small glare. She held open her hands. Water splashed back, jumping out of the shower and landing on Zoro's body as he transferred her wants into her possession.

"You know, you killed someone." Zoro closed the curtain.

"That conjoined twin thing out in front? I know." Seraphina rolled her eyes.

"No, a teenager."

"What?" The young woman gave him a pointed look, quickly realizing that he couldn't see her. She squirted the pinkish shampoo in her hands. Soapy hands found their way into her blue hair, lathering and twisting locks as she gave time for Zoro to answer her. Seraphina had killed many people before, with her father and other men. What was the problem?

Zoro leaned back on the stool. "On the Merry. Your eyes were black. Nami thinks it was because of your sickness."

"Ah. I don't remember doing that." Seraphina thinks she knows what happened. Thin hands pulled themselves out of her hair. She washed her soapy hands off and went to the bar of soap, lathering it all over her body. Red kept pouring into the drain. "I think I don't remember because I was sick; the black eyes are normal. I must have just lost control for some reason."

He gave the shower area a look. "What did cause you to be sick?"

"We call it Black Water." She kept scrubbing down her appendages. The water was now a light pink, a very good sign for her. "I'm fine though. It's easy to cure."

"Saltwater?"

Sera paused. Her face pulled into a quizzical expression, her blue eyebrows furrowing together. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"You kept trying to jump out into the ocean."

"Ah." The water was clear now. "Can you leave? I must change."

Zoro picked himself up. The sounds of his walking away from the stool and towards the exit softly stirred something deep within Seraphina. She was glad he had told her some of her actions on the ship, as gruesome as they were. Perhaps it wasn't the best to let her crew see the monster side of herself, but, truth be told, it was a very prominent part of herself. Her people were raised on brutality against outsiders, leading to a fierce protection over those considered family. Those very traits had allowed her people to flourish.

Water stopped flowing freely as she turned the shower off, turning into a gentle dripping pattern. Her feet hit the cold floor. Goosebumps rose as she made a disgruntled face. Hands reached for a clean towel, searching faster as the freezing air had finally gotten through her thick skin. She was used to the cold, but this was something else. Skin found clothe. Seraphina wiped down herself. She paused, a realization slowly dawning on her.

She didn't have clean clothes.

 **Hey guys! I have a serious question that I want you guys to answer. Are my chapters too long?**


	13. The Ocean's Yearning

**Thank you to everyone who answered my question! I greatly appreciate it! OC overload this month!**

"Your daughter is running wild, Sabrina."

"She is a creature of the sea. And the daughter of a Warlord. What do you expect?" The mother responded knowing fully well what she had released into the world. Her daughter was always meant to have traveled the oceans. Nonetheless, Sabrina was not happy with the bounty her daughter had acquired, no matter how small and measly it was.

Her younger sister gave her a glare. "She's to be married. Seraphina will unite two kingdoms. She cannot be going about and getting bounties on her head!"

"Attina!"

All in the room snapped their mouths shut when they heard the voice of the matriarchy. No one went against the head Belcher. She was ancient wisdom that even the Elders of the Cove didn't argue against. Sabrina closed her eyes knowing fully well that her sister and she had just angered their mother. Sylvia shook her gray head. Her brows were furrowed, and her eyes narrowed. One could easily tell how much life had aged the poor woman, yet she was still beautiful in her own way. Yet even a powerful woman still had worries. Sylvia fiddled with a ring on her finger. Old lips pulled into a deep frown.

"If the Marines knew what half of us were doing," her aged voice rung out into the room, "they would have sent out a buster call for us ages ago."

None of her daughters said a word. They knew that almost all of them would be branded as criminals had the Marines knew of their lives. Sabrina sailed the seas as a Roger Pirate then with the Red-Haired Pirates for a time after Roger had died. Although she was the more sensible of her sisters, Attina had even stolen from pirates. Alana had once single handedly attacked and killed an entire pirate ship. Adella stole from a Marine base when she was in her teens. Aquata murdered an entire village of humans when she found out they had killed her mate. Arista had sailed with the Whitebeard Pirates. Andrina was known to target Marine ships after she had heard that one of her Fishmen friends was wrongly imprisoned by the Marines.

Even their sons and husbands weren't free from a brutal life. Some of their mates were pirates— especially Sabrina's. Adella's son, Servastien, was slowly sneaking off to the ships of the Whitebeard Pirates to the amusement of Whitebeard himself. Saer wanted to take off to start his own crew while it seems only Shen was sane. He merely wanted to find a mate. Perhaps a mermaid? Serevano merely wanted to stay at the Cove.

Their daughters were not unexpectedly following in their mother's footsteps. Abehna dreamed of taking off into the world with her sister, Arletta, as pirates, a dream that was slowly warped and influenced by her elder cousins, Seraphina and Aria. Little Aimia was already romanticizing the notion of falling in love with a pirate and living on a secluded island where in reality it would be her taking care of her children alone and a young death for her mate. Eight-year-old Amoretta had an innocent dream of traveling while her older sister, Adaline, had a violent fantasy of slaughtering slave houses. Most of them would lead a brutal life. But so was their ways.

"Nonetheless," the Belcher head continued, "we need to bring Seraphina back here."

"She won't listen to us," Andrina stepped in. Her voice was smooth like a resting river, gentle and soft. When she shook her head, her dark blue hair moved around in her waves, almost like waterfall. Her light blue eyes twinkled in the glowing light of the bioluminescent rockflower. "She'll only listen to someone her own age."

Abehna nodded furiously, her short purple hair bouncing. "She'll listen to Aria, though."

Aquata rested head in her hand, letting out a deep breath as she did so. "We figured, but the problem is that Aria hasn't been around for over a year either."

"And the last time we _did_ see her, she only stayed for a week," Attina nodded.

"Perhaps Whitebeard could help us find Seraphina?" Adella's mate, Avel, offered to the Belcher family. The older females looked at each other uneasily.

Sylvia was the only one to shake her head. "He wouldn't be faster. Whitebeard is probably on the same page as us."

"Why don't we just try and track her?" Servastien rolled his eyes at the women in the Belcher family. Sometimes they didn't think with the heads of humans. Humans did have some great ideas after all. "We could see the last island she was reported to be on and track where she would be headed. Islands in Paradise only point to one island after all."

Andrina gave the teen an odd look. "What?"

"He's right," Avel, the family's best navigator spoke up, giving his son a pat on the back. "She wasn't taught to travel by star or log pose, so assuming Seraphina isn't the one guiding her crew, it can be safe to say that someone else is navigating the ship by loge pose."

Sylvia nodded her head, starting to remember how the islands in the Grand Line worked. She gathered more of her thoughts together and decided to put the topic of Seraphina to rest. "Avel, Servastien. Next time we meet, can you find where she last was and her predicted course?"

"Yes, of course," father and son responded in unity.

"Good," Sylvia nodded, pleased. "I'm glad we have that sorted. The Council will no doubt bring that up at the upcoming meeting."

Her eldest daughter snapped her head towards her mother, her light blue hair swinging with the motion. "We have to bring up the topic of Alabasta. The instability could dramatically impact our trading economy. Either we interfere, or we pull out."

"Don't forget about any potential Arlong copycats," Alana finally joined in. Her daughters quickly supported what their mother had to say. Abehna and Arletta were hushed by their human-fishman father, Rocco. "There have been increasing reports of violent acts committed by Fishmen Purists. I don't want their ideas spreading to the Cove or the Lagoons."

"Their ideas would never take hold in either of the Lagoons," Azrael, Andrina's human mate, shook his head. He and the family that raised him had lived in the Lagoons their entire life. When he mated Andrina, she moved up with him. He is the only male of the family that would know the Lagoons the best. "There are too many humans."

Alana frowned at him. "We must not assume."

"You're assuming that it would take hold." Andrina placed a hand on her mate's arm.

"I'm merely stating a possible outcome. We must not—"

Sylvia raised her hand, silencing the two. "We'll bring it up regardless."

"Ah!" Shen and Saer both spoke up. They gave each other looks, silently deciding who would speak on their behalf. The twins would always do something like this. Saer raised his brow. Shen nodded, opening his mouth. "We overheard the women and the men at the boat house complaining about the damage."

Emil, Arista's mate, raised his brow at this. "What kind of damage?"

"The recent storm," Shen continued. "The Lagoons had an unexpected large storm a few weeks ago and it seems it damaged a lot of our boats."

Their matriarch was proud of the two teens who had just aged into manhood. They were starting to think like leaders. "Hm, we'll bring it up."

"So Seraphina, Alabasta, Arlong copycats, and boats," Sabrina listed off the topics they needed to bring up to the Council on her fingers. "I can remember that."

Alana rolled her eyes at her elder sister. "Well, I'd hope so. It's only four things."

She shot a glare at the younger woman. "I don't need to hear your shit, Attina."

"Yes, you do." Alana smirked at the eldest Belcher sister. Her children laughed at their aunt that was now playfully glaring at her nephews.

"No more ocean fruit for you four," Sabrina pointed her finger at the four children of Alana's. Something stirred in Sabrina's heart. She had wished that she could have had more children with Mihawk, but Seraphina was still a joy to her. A joy that will stir up the sea bed.

* * *

Seraphina wanted to a new change of clothes. She hated the now bloody pink shirt that someone had forced her to wear and her shoes didn't fit. Her legs were getting stiff and cold. Loose strands were starting to tangle her feet and toes. Seraphina, too upset over her uncomfortable situation, slammed open the doctor's door.

Standing at the entrance of Doctorine's crowded room, her golden orbs rested on the whimpering Sanji, the unknown sleeping man on a makeshift cot, and the snipper that found his way to her bed. Well, it wasn't her bed but whatever. She caught sight of a horde of men huddling together in the corner. A few flinched under her piercing stare. Seraphina turned her sights to her impatient crew, spotting the crew members that were left behind at the ship when Sanji and Luffy bolted off. "Are we waiting for San—?"

"Seraphina!" A feminine voice shouted from behind her. Soft arms wrapped themselves around her midriff, giving a small squeeze to her body as the woman rested her head against Seraphina's back. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"Phina!" Two others tackled the Belcher. Rough curly hair was pushed into Seraphina's face as the momentum pushed her body into another's soft arms. Flashes of orange flitted in her eyes. A smile slipped itself onto her lips. It was almost like having her family here. Pushing aside the background noise of Doctorine's voice going on about keys, she relished in the feeling of being surrounded by her fellow crew.

Nami's face popped up, a smile set on her face. "Phina! We were so worried!"

"Well don't be anymore," Seraphina sent her a smile. "I'm fine. When can we leave? I want to change."

"No!" Doctrine shouted at her, stopping her conversation with the other man. Her brows furrowed. "No. You're not leaving until I'm a hundred percent sure you're fine. Not to mention the other boy."

Seraphina rolled her eyes at the woman, letting Nami take care of the older lady. She sat down next to Usopp, flinching as a cold metal pressed against her hips, biting into her warm skin. Hands patted herself down as she pulled a golden key from her clothes. Usopp twisted his head around, curiously eyeing the mysterious key as an idea slowly started to form in Seraphina's head.

"Hey, is this the key you're looking for?"

Kureha snapped her head over. "Yes."

"I'll give it to you if you let Sanji and me go." Seraphina placed the key between her teeth, the white enamel slowly turning black as she readied to bite down which would render the key useless.

Doctorine's brow furrowed; a glare formed on her face. Suddenly, the anger on her face fell. She waved her hand about her head. "Well, whatever. The boy's already cured and you'll heal quickly. It'll take a Yonko to kill one of you." Doctorine muttered the last part to herself. She pointed to a closet in the corner of the stone-cold room before snatching the threatened key out of Seraphina's hands. "Coats are in there. And I'll need everyone else to come with me."

The two bluenettes gave each other an odd look. Vivi scanned the room. "She is telling us to leave, right?"

Nami merely shrugged, heading over to rummage through Doctorine's closet. "Well, we're going to. We don't have any more time to spare."

"She's right." Seraphina snapped her head towards Usopp. "Go down where the others are and tell them to start meeting up at the main castle doors. We'll get Sanji ready while you gather everyone."

Usopp ran off, allowing Vivi and Seraphina to half-hazardly wrap Sanji up in a fluffy coat while Nami pulled out another for Seraphina. All three woman traversed the stone halls with Sanji on Seraphina's back. Sera groaned when she heard Luffy's calls to the reindeer, knowing that Luffy would not stop until he had that reindeer in his crew.

"So…" Usopp leaned in close to her. "Is Chopper coming with us?"

Sera gave a shrug.

"Oi!" Zoro waved for the others to get closer to him.

Seraphina shot a look to Zoro. "What?"

"He's coming." Zoro gestured to the speeding object that was slowly getting closer. Sera made a remark on how it was not slowing down. She squinted her eyes, noticing the way the reindeer's brows had furrowed together in distress.

"Guys," the little creature called out. "Get on!"

Seraphina did not have to be told twice. Once she saw the seething doctor in Chopper's path, Sera jumped into the carriage he pulled, only minimally jostling Sanji. Others scrambled on next to her. Usopp jabbed his elbow into her side, pulling out a pained hiss from her lips. He gave her a sheepish smile before fully pulling up Nami.

Setting Sanji down, Sera leaned against the side as everyone else crammed into the carriage. Pushing against other bodies, the bluenette managed to turn herself around as a large bang sounded. Bursts of pink flew into the air, staining the snow clouds with the pink material. Doctorine must have something to do with it. Seraphina could only gawk at the pastel pink resting in the clouds.

The dye was unevenly spread, causing the dye to show darker in different areas. But she liked that. It added depth. The pink clung to the snow like it was its life line, falling down back to the earth in a slow dance. The shining of the moon shone through the semi translucent clouds, giving a glowing effect to the rosy pink clouds that rested on the drum mountain.

As Chopper took his new crew away from Doctorine and towards his new ship, Seraphina couldn't help but think that the pink clouds resembled a cherry tree dropping its cherry blossoms.

"How lovely."

* * *

Sabrina reached her hand out, stretching her arm out as if she was reaching for something in the dark sky. The stars glittered and sparkled in the way they typically did; they glowed with brilliance, with adoration for the sea. They glowed brightly so that the ocean would find its way to the heavens. Alas, the stars would never touch the earth, and the ocean would never find its way to the heavens. The proud stars, bright yet still somehow faint at times, were forever trapped in the sky, while its beloved ocean was forever trapped to the earth. The stars were at the surface of the world, the ocean at the bottom.

The waters, so desperate and impatient for its lover, would often pull itself back and forth, waves rising and falling as if it could reach the stars. It was here, resting on the white sand of the Lagoon, that Sabrina began to yearn for her beloveds. Her yearning came in waves, much like the ocean, as she remained at the Lagoon while her other sisters— some sisters by blood and others by name— left to travel the seas.

She laid herself down, relishing in the soft sand of Paradise Lagoon. The mother would often take her only child here— to wait for Mihawk and other times to just come up here. She missed having her daughter by her side. Despite others being put off by her daughter's eyes, to her, there was something so comforting about staring into her daughter's golden orbs. Perhaps, it was because it reminded her of Mihawk.

Sabrina let out a silent prayer to the stars, wishing that they would lead her lover back to her. After he had joined the Warlords, Sabrina knew that he would be unable to be with her. And she resented him for it. Yet she still couldn't pull herself away from his arms when he had arrived to see their daughter. Like the waves to the moon, she would always be pulled to him, whether she realized it or not and truth be told, she would always willingly give in to him.

The woman let out sigh, closing her eyes as flashes of her father found themselves wriggling their way into her mind. Her let out a choked sob, not wanting to bring up her father's funeral. He would be with the stars now, watching over her and her family, guiding them should they need guidance. Sabrina had hated it when she found out that her father was teaching little Seraphina how to use a sword. It sent a jolt through her. Mihawk would take her away to train her farther when he found out. And he did. He snatched her awa—

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Her mother's voice found its way to Sabrina's ears. Her eyes snapped open, finding her mother standing over her, yet Sylvia was watching the sky. Sabrina let out a noise of confirmation, asking her mother stay by her side. "The stars say that our sons will have a safe passage."

Sabrina merely made a noise.

"You're missing him." It was a statement. And a statement that Sabrina could not disagree with.

"I am. He's my mate. Don't you miss yours?" Sabrina knew that her mother did not cry the day her father died. She asked the question hoping that her mother would say yes, yet she never knew her mother to show her father any affection. The bluenette thought it odd. Out of all of the relationships she had seen, this was the coldest one she knew of. And just when Sabrina thought her mother would say no, she shocked her.

Her mother's lips pulled into a thin line. "Yes."

Sabrina believed her mother, yet Sabrina had a feeling that they weren't talking about the same man.

* * *

A red-head let out a deep sigh as she laid on some sandy beach on the Grand Line. Her tail rose high in the air as she lifted it up, childishly trying to reach for the stars. They glittered and glowed with glee. They were happy, and so was she. Yet, she still couldn't help this yearnful feeling coming from her heart. She missed Seraphina. She had missed how her cousin, practically her sister, dance with her pitifully on the beach as the red-head tried to get used to her feet. Her tail fell, landing in the water with a loud splash, bringing a man's attention to her.

"Aria? What's wrong?"

"The stars say that we'll have a safe passage today." While Aria couldn't navigate through the stars, she could read them. And today, they were very positive, if only a little desperate to meet with its beloved. Aria understood its pain. After finding her mate, she couldn't imagine being separated from him.

The man gave her a smile. "Then why do you look so sad?"

"I miss Seraphina."

"She's the bluenette, right?"

"Mhm. Although Aimia is also a bluenette."

"She's five."

"Well, whatever." Aria gave him an exasperated look. "I miss my sister."

She had only ever thought of Seraphina as her sister. And Seraphina only considered Aria as her sister. Despite Aria having a fishman as a father and Seraphina having a human as a father, they were, without a doubt, sisters. It didn't matter that their mothers were sisters and not them, it didn't matter how different their hair was, or how Seraphina resembled Sabrina while Aria resembled her father— minus the fishman attributes. They were sisters.

The two had spent countless days together, digging in the sand and gathering sea shells. Their nights were spent whispering to each other over what their mothers had told them. Although sometimes, when the two girls had nothing else to say to each other, the two merely stayed in each other's company. And it wasn't before long that the two girls pledged their sisterly bond to each other. While Aria had kept the first piece of jewelry she had made, a small twine bracelet with sea shells tied in, she found herself wanting to give it to Seraphina before she left for her journey. Yet when she returned from visiting Whitebeard, Seraphina had already left with her father.

The man sat down next to her, letting the woman drape her dark green tail over his legs. He patted her scales, noticing the way her two tail piercings glittered in the starlight. "If the Marines are correct, if we see Luffy, we'll also see her."

"How is he related to you? I thought your mother died giving birth to you." She pushed herself into his lap, wanting to get closer so she could hear his voice. Aria loved the rough East Blue accent of his voice compared to her posh Grand Line one.

The dark-haired man smirked, tilting his bright orange hat further down his face as if trying to hide from the nonexistent light. She ran her fingers over his ASCE tattoo. "Ah, he's kinda adopted."

"Is he like you? Or better?" She teased.

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding!"

"Aria…."

"Oh, Ace. You know I'm joking."

* * *

Golden eyes stared up at the silver and blue mix that was the stars. Seraphina leaned over the Merry's railing as she rested her chin against her fist. As she stared at the message of a safe passage in the stars and as she listened to the roaring waves, she could not help but yearn for her family. Her lips pulled into a frown, her brows furrowed, and her eyes grew sad. It had been almost two years and now she was finally starting to miss swimming with Aria.

"Seraphina?" A soft voice pulled the woman from her deep thoughts. She turned her head to find another bluenette staring cautiously at the other woman. When Vivi found Seraphina's smile, she returned it with her own. "Are you alright? Chopper said that you shouldn't be up too late, just in case."

"I'm fine." Seraphina turned her head back up to the heavens. "The stars say that we'll have a safe passage."

Vivi followed Sera's actions although she was unable to find what Seraphina had said. To her, it was just a jumble of stars. Pretty, but stars nonetheless. But to Seraphina's people, the stars and seas were life. Vivi, giving up on reading the stars, rested her eyes on Seraphina's form. The stars and moon reflected their pure light onto Seraphina, giving the woman a soft glow, almost like the plants that grew in the Cove's caves. Although Vivi had never been to the Cove, but she had seen pictures of some of the plants that grew there. "Perhaps you should go to bed?"

"Mm. Alright." Sera grabbed Vivi's hand and they headed off to join Nami in the girl's cabin, readying themselves for another day of Luffy.

 **So my dumbass messed up Aria's hair color when she was first introduced. So I had to fix that but whatever.**


	14. The Ocean's Meditation

**Sorry, I'm late! But anyways, I would like to thank karinukita for being by beta reader! She's already helped me and I would just like to publicly thank her for joining me in this writing journey.**

She felt as though she was drifting off into the waves. The familiar creaking and the gentle rocking of the ship carried Seraphina into the deep recesses of her mind that was stuck dreaming of her faraway home. Her mind's distortions created a hazy dream of her body resting on top of the ocean as waves of cooling water lapped at her. She couldn't feel her legs. But it was alright; she could feel the sun baking her skin and wind trying to blow her soaked hair dry. And those were just a few of the many sensations that she could focus on. The way that the water caressed her face as she tilted her head more towards the sun, the way that the seafoam sprayed into her face, coating her in the salty seawater as waves splashed onto the shore.

And the sounds.

The most mundane noises of the Lagoon were music to her ears. After years of being separated from the white sandy beaches of the Lagoons and the bright bioluminescent colors of the Cove, Seraphina craved the familiar noises of her home. From people chit chatting in the markets to the quiet creaking of the houses resting on stilts at night, every one was beloved by the blue haired woman. Aria would bring her up to the Lagoons to hear the water crashing at the shore, something that Seraphina so desperately loved. Despite always accompanying the younger Belcher, Aria never quite understood Seraphina's fascination with the sounds of the ocean. Yet, she always gave in when the bluenette begged her.

As Seraphina drowned in the ocean's quiet whispers that Aria would never come to understand, Aria wrapped her arms around the bluenette, clinging tightly before the waves could rip them apart. Despite the pulling of the waves, the two woman stuck close to each other, a desperate attempt to stop the fate of the waves, a feat that has never been done. As Seraphina whispered words filled with farewells, Aria leaned to give a small kiss on her cheek.

In a voice that was not like hers, she whispered back into Seraphina's ear. "—phina, wake up. It's almost 10 o'clock."

Seraphina jolted. She pushed back the stranger and fell back into the deep ocean, her arms flailing as her legs struggled to kick back up to the surface. As if she wasn't taught to swim, her legs flailed wildly, kicking the water in circular motions.

"Seraphina." Aria's mouth moved, but her voice didn't come out. Instead of a strong, smooth voice, a quiet and gentle one replaced hers.

The bluenette's shoulder was shaken gently, causing the woman to finally snap open her eyes to find flashes of red hair mingling into her own light blue color. Another call of her name had Seraphina blinking her eyes, quickly realizing that she had seen no red, only the light blue of Vivi's hair. She couldn't help the sinking feeling in her heart when reality reminded her that her proclaimed sister was not the one hugging her. Instead, Vivi had her arms wrapped around Sera's midsection, the two woman cradling each other as long lost sisters.

"I dreamt of Aria." Seraphina untangled herself from her twin's arms, scratching at the itchy shirt she decided to put on last night.

"Ah."

"Do you remember her?" She sat up, itching at her hips.

"The red head?" Vivi continued when she saw Seraphina nod. "I met her at the Reverie where we first met. I think I met her first. It was the same one that we met Wapol."

"We met Wapol?" Her blue hair fanned out as she whipped her head back to stare at the Alabastian. "At the Reverie?"

Vivi nodded furiously as she flung the sheets off her body. "Don't you remember? That's why he called your mother queen."

Golden eyes widened in realization. Her morning voice carried a thick accent with her words. "That makes so much sense now! I was wondering why he just called my mother's name out. And she's not even Queen! It's probably because we were representing the Queen."

Vivi opened her mouth, her voice being over spoken by the sound of a door slamming open and Nami poking her head through its frame. Her orange hair reminded the homesick woman of the corals down in Mermaid Cove and certain plants at her Cove. Nami gestured to the outside world. "When you two are done sleeping in, Sanji said that breakfasts is ready."

The two woman rolled themselves out of bed, quickly changing out of their pajamas and scrambling into random pieces of clothing that belonged to both of them. With a mixed and matched outfit, Seraphina dragged herself to the kitchen, stupidly sitting herself between the messy eater Usopp and hell's spawn Luffy. She rubbed her eyes as Sanji place her plate in front of her. A stretching noise alerted her attention to the food thief next to her. A quick whap to Luffy's hands temporarily fixed his grabby problem. Just like her slow, dragging morning, Seraphina took her time eating everything on her plate, leaving just her and Sanji alone in the kitchen. Instead of focusing on the silence between the two, she focused her attention on the delicious eggs and the harsh scratching and clinking noise of Sanji cleaning the dishes.

With more harsh scrapes against the plate with her fork, Seraphina cleared her plate and pushed aside the dirty dishes. Her eyes drooped. If it weren't for Usopp's messy eating, she would have rested her head against the table. Shit, she might even do that—

"So why is everyone calling you Sabrina?" Sanji's gruff voice pulled the woman from out of her daze. Seraphina gave him a weak, confused look. "Arlong? Wapol? They called you Sabrina. Queen Sabrina."

"Oh! No," Seraphina shook her head. "Sabrina's my mother. I've heard I look a lot like her when she was younger. But she's not a Queen."

"Ah," Sanji muttered, some expression flitting over his face that Seraphina couldn't read.

She ran a hand through her hair. "Wapol must have thought that my mother was the queen because we went to the Reverie once."

"But that _is_ for royals."

"We were a stand in for the real Queen. There were… other things going on that she had to deal with."

"Is that where you met Vivi?"

Seraphina's expression lightened, her lips pulling into a cheerful smile as she remembered sneaking into Vivi's room to whisper to each other in the night. "After meeting her, we spent the rest of the Reverie together. Our parents couldn't separate us. And eventually they started negotiations over trading between our two nations. All because two lonely little girls started to play with dolls together."

As she reminisced on the beginnings of her and Vivi's friendship, Sanji's mind wandered over to his childhood. Jealousy first filled his mind. He flinched as his thoughts were ambushed by the harsh words of his father and the dangerous leers of his brothers. Angry hands pulled at his hair, cutting deep into his mind. A soft voice, gentle and sweet, called his name. Guilt filled his heart as his mother's voice called him back to reality, reminding him that he was home and cared for. He found gold staring back at him.

"Sanji? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Sanji returned to his dish washing. "Just reminiscing."

"Ah," Seraphina stared back down at her empty plate, knowing not to press the man any further. There was something in his past that he didn't want known, much like her. She recognized that look after wearing it for so many years and she would respect that fact. Leaving the man to his silence, she headed onto the deck in search for her new students.

With a flurry of red, one of the people she had been searching for landed, quite literally, in her arms with the other running after his captain. Luffy beamed up at her with his pearly white teeth. She was mildly surprised that Luffy had really good-looking teeth. While she was admiring Luffy's teeth, Usopp landed into her shoulder, clipping his nose against her neck. Luffy was dropped onto the floor as Seraphina clutched her neck to give a loud cry out. She stared down Usopp.

"Sorry!" Usopp gave a sheepish smile as he clutched at his own nose.

"Are you finally finished with your workouts?"

"No!" Usopp gave her an exaggerated sigh. "Do you know how much stuff you gave me?! Can anyone even do 500 sit ups?"

Seraphina merely blinked at him. "Yes. Of course."

"Ugh…." He lowered his head, giving her a sad pair of puppy eyes. Golden orbs stared at him, giving him a bland look that she was not happy with his small fit. Sera raised a brow at him. His face morphed back into his classic look of defeat and wandered back to the deck where he usually trained.

"And you, Luffy," Seraphina turned to the captain, "did you finish your meditations."

"Yes!" Luffy's eyes wandered to the side, unable to handle staring directly into the bluenette's piercing golden eyes. His skin began to glisten from beads of sweat as his rubbery lips puckered. His eyes widened just as Seraphina's narrowed. "All done for today!"

"Luffy." The woman's accent was thick. "Don't lie to me."

Her captain pouted, his cheeks puffing out into an obnoxious balloon as he attempted to hide from her soul piercing stare. She pinched his swelling cheeks. Long nails dug into his skin as his skin kept stretching, giving Luffy a painful pinch. The black-haired boy gave a start and stopped his pouting as he clutched at his somehow delicate cheeks; he was not happy with Seraphina's abuse. Luffy glared at his musician. "Phinie!"

"Luffy."

"Why?!"

"Don't lie to me, Luffy."

"I wasn't lying!" He looked away again, sweat seeping from his forehead.

A deck above the two, watching the events playing down below, was another pair of crewmates, carefully analyzing the admonishing of Luffy. Orange hair swayed in the sea breeze as thin fingers picked at a tangerine. Cigarette smoke rose into the air, soon to be carried away by the same salty breeze that rustled at Nami's short hair. A faint scent of tangerine was in the air.

"He really is a terrible liar," Sanji shook his head. "It's worse than a child's."

Nami smirked when Luffy's one sided shouting match continued. "Luffy _is_ a child."

"It's worse than a baby's." Sanji corrected himself.

"Yes, it is."

"What are they even arguing over?"

"If he did his meditation or not. He's struggling to concentrate." Nami popped another slice into her mouth. She continued, noticing the way Sanji's brows furrowed in confusion. "For his training? Haki?"

Sanji's eyes widened. "Wait, what? Since when?"

Nami gave him a look. "Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy are learning haki. I thought you were in on that as well."

"No."

"Oh." She paused. "Well… why not?"

The blond blinked back at the woman, clearly wanting to be in on the sweet deal that was to be trained by Seraphina and learn something that would give him an extra edge on in a fight. He quickly put out his cigarette and separated himself from Nami's side to switch for Seraphina's side. Luffy's pouting had only gotten louder.

"Luffy," Seraphina's soothing voice caressed Sanji's ears. "You need to do your meditations. It will help you later. What's wrong when you meditate?"

"There's— there's something blocking me from concentrating."

A thought hit the bluenette's mind as soon as her captain confessed his troubles. He gave her a pout. Luffy was visibly upset at his inability to get himself to meditate, a simple feat done easily by Zoro. Even with Nami telling him to separate his mind from his body and with Zoro telling him to just stop thinking, Luffy just didn't get it. No matter how long Luffy sat alone in the dark storage room and other odd places, he was simply unable to sense his surroundings.

Fortunately for him, his ocean-faring musician had the perfect remedy for his aliments.

"Luffy," Seraphina patted her captain's cheek, making sure to give him a soothing smile. She wasn't upset with him after all. "It's okay to struggle when learning something new. Haki is foreign to you, I get that. Just keep trying. Perhaps, though, we should try something new."

She pursed her lips when Luffy's face still hadn't risen to his regular, cheerful self.

"Luffy, everyone struggles to learn something. In fact, this is the perfect time to struggle with haki. Most enemies we fight won't have haki. Even I struggle with haki," Seraphina gave him a bigger smile. He returned it with one of his own. "Now go up behind the tangerine trees. We're going to try something new. I'll meet you up there."

Luffy sprinted up the deck stairs, rushing to find a perfect spot underneath the shade, racing only against his own shadow. The captain skidded to a stop when he realized a sleeping swordsman was already in Luffy's favorite spot. He slammed down his foot.

"Zoro!"

The man cracked open a sleepy eye; his eye already glaring at his captain. "What?"

"Get up!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Cause I said so! Me and Phinie are going to meditate here!"

"Sera and I," a gruff voice corrected.

Both Zoro's and Luffy's head turned towards the voice, finding a blond chef standing just beneath a shady tangerine tree. Sanji dropped down on to the hard planks and crossed his legs. A bright smile was sent his way as a different individual sent sharp glares towards the blond.

"Oi! Sanji!" His captain set a hand on his hat as he plopped down on to the wooden deck. "Are you going to join us?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Zoro kept his glare.

Sanji flicked a clump of dirt towards the swordsman who easily dodged the offending object. "Cause I need to make sure you don't hog all of Sera-sama's attention."

"Oh bullshit, you—"

"No one's hogging my attention," a feminine voice carried itself to the men's ears, shutting their mouths as Seraphina made her way towards the center of the triangle the three men had formed with long leaves in her hand and a cup of water in the other. She rolled her eyes at their antics, knowing full well how the two loved their bickering. The word "children" could barely be heard slipping through her lips. "I'm assuming you're here for something, Sanji?"

The chef turned his eyes away from Zoro and onto a more pleasant figure. "I was hoping you'd teach me haki."

"Ah, I was about to ask you if you'd want me to teach you." Sera sent him a smile. "I think it'll be better to have you start with armament haki, but I guess you can just join us for today."

As Seraphina turned towards Zoro, Sanji quickly flipped off Zoro, a smirk resting on his face. The only thing betraying Zoro's appearance was the slight narrowing of his eyes. He quickly fixed his problem by returning his eyes to Seraphina's face. His dark eyes wandered down her body, resting on the small greenery cradled gently in her thin hands.

"What's that for?"

She opened her palm, showing off the contents to Zoro first then let Luffy and Sanji peek at the foreign plants. Dull and no doubt extraordinarily dry, the plants were thin and long, almost resembling the long kelps residing in those giant kelp forests that Luffy had heard about from Shanks, but they were textured differently. Whereas normal kelp would be cracking when dry, Sanji knew that this plant did not crack. Instead it bent and flopped despite being an aquatic flora. There was no bumpy texture on thin leaves that Sanji knew normal kelp had. Whatever Seraphina cradled in her hand was alien.

"It's babytails. It's a type of flora from my island. They look kind of like kelp."

"And why do you need those?" Zoro kept his eyes on the mysterious flora in her hands.

"They're going to help us with this meditation."

"How?" Sanji gestured with his hand, begging to touch the foreign plant. Perhaps it would make a good ingredient.

Seraphina turned, giving Sanji a chance to examine the babytails. "When I drop them in this cup, the plant will react to the freshwater and will release a psychedelic that will allow us an easier time slipping into what my people call a najash state- a state between our normal selves and the other form that you guys saw earlier with my black eyes."

"Is that called a najash form?" Zoro asked.

"Yes."

Sanji paused to stare into her serious eyes. "And that's going to help us how exactly?"

Her eyes blinked back at him. "It really just heightens your senses to your surrounding areas. When people struggle with meditating, babytails are known to help."

"…Okay then…." Sanji nodded, not exactly how it would really help Luffy.

"I think the problem with Luffy is that he's not sensing his surrounds correctly," Seraphina went on to needlessly explain her theory to the group. Her hands dropped the flora into the cup, swishing the two ingredients together. "This should help him."

Zoro peered over her shoulder, watching as the water turned an odd purple color. He made a face. Surely that wasn't normal.

"Babytails," Seraphina spoke, "grow in saltwater. So it's not supposed to be exposed to freshwater or, at least, water under a certain salt content. When certain areas in the ocean become less salty, babytails react and breakdown to create a purplish looking water. It actually really helps with maintaining salt levels in controlled environments."

Luffy scratched at his head, struggling the most with absorbing all of the bluenette's long explanations. "So… it's magic kelp?"

The other three took deep breathes. Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Yes, Luffy."

"Ah! Okay then!"

"Just take a sip, Luffy." Seraphina held out the cup, letting him take it from her. After Luffy was finished, he passed it Sanji who took a sip and passed it Zoro. Seraphina sat down, crossing her legs as she took the cup from Zoro. Her lips planted themselves on the wooden cup. Her hands tilted the cup up to let the purple liquid slip down her throat. The liquid tasted slightly salty but mostly earthy with an odd tang to the after taste. Sera closed her eyes and soon the men followed after her; their eyes always carefully watching her. "Breathe. Now pay attention to the ocean. Let it call to you…."

In.

Out.

Like a tide.

Flooding.

Ebbing.

Rising.

Falling.

Eventually.

Her friends, now family.

They would be able to hear it.

The ocean calling their names. And it calls to her.

In its very short breath.

It calls her name.

 _Seraphina._

 **Disclaimer: Don't do drugs, kids. Or do. I'm not your mom.**

 **Anyways, read and review!**


	15. The Ocean's Mimic

**Thanks again to karinukita for beta reading!**

 _Gentle fingers pushed the long blond hair from his eyes. With the hair no longer obstructing his view, he could now see the sweet smile sent his way. The blonde woman chuckled, small apologies being said with regards to her long hair. As she relished her favorite child picking up her beautiful blond hair, the child relished in her gentle voice, something he was not used to hearing. A child's melody began to fall from her lips, out of tune but nonetheless, still sweet._

 _"Sanji?" His mother called the child's name._

 _He looked up at her._

 _"You'll keep visiting me, right?"_

 _Panic overwhelmed him._

 _He furiously nodded his head. He had to reassure his mother. His sweet mother. The only one here who would reassure his own wounds, whether they be physical or emotional. Sanji needed her to be happy. Who else would he cook for? She was his only family. The only one that cared for him._

 _"Sanji?"_

"Mom!"

"Sanji?"

"Mom!"

"I'm not your mom, Sanji." Seraphina's voice rang through his aching head. Sanji opened his eyes to see the barmaid hovering over his once sleeping form. His eyes shifted around to find a thoroughly knocked out Zoro and a fidgeting Luffy. Sanji's eyes drifted back to the golden orbs.

A smile slithered itself onto his face. "Don't I get a good morning kiss?"

"It's the evening, Sanji. No." Seraphina rolled her eyes.

"I need to get started on dinner then." Sanji picked himself up, brushing off dust from his side. He pushed away his hair from his eyes. Shit, here comes a headache. Although this time it wasn't caused by Luffy. He couldn't stand his memories.

* * *

 _"The islands in the south are warm~_

 _Paina-pururu! Their heads get really hot~_

 _And they're all idiots!~"_

 _Luffy squealed as the woman holding him finished the first verse; her voice filled him with energy. The black-haired woman rubbed her noise against his as she cooed his name. His chubby hands reached back up to twist themselves in her coal black locks. She merely laughed at his gentle tugs. He would be a strong one, that much she knew._

 _"Mama!" Her son chirped at her._

 _"Luffy!"_

 _"Again! Again!"_

 _The woman chuckled at the small boy, bouncing him in her arms. She swaddled her son tighter together with his fluffy winter blanket. The weather would get colder, and her son would start to shiver soon. The boy wiggled around, clearly not liking how his mother wrapped him tight; he wanted to be free. "Luffy, it's almost time to go to bed."_

 _"I don't wanna!" Her child pouted at her; his cute little cheeks puffed up._

 _"I'll sing to you to tomorrow," she whispered back to him, hugging him tighter than she'd ever had before._

 _"Pwomise?"_

 _The woman's heart twisted, but she must put him to bed before Garp arrived. "I promise."_

Luffy jolted. His heart pounded, blood rushed through his ears as his forgotten memory slowly rose to the surface. He wasn't used to this— this feeling of abandonment. Luffy didn't like it. The captain saw a bluenette shaking a totally knocked out Zoro, and he knew that he would be able to sneak away without Seraphina seeing him in such a shaken form. Luffy might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he knew that whatever happened to the four of them, they weren't supposed to experience that.

* * *

 _Green hair fell into his eyes as he turned his head towards the festivities. There she was, dancing away with her friends on the star-white sand that belonged to the Lagoon. Her smile was radiant, shining brightly onto the family that surrounded her. The pearls in her hair reflected the moonlight, the white of her skirt shone fire red from the large bonfire celebrating her marriage. The crowds cheered and laughed. All while he looked on her in a kind of sadness he could not name._

 _The woman's turquoise followed her head's movements. The pearls resting on her head like a halo reminded him of seafoam forming on the ocean waves. As she spun, her hair flew out like an ocean, the ripples in her hair mimicking the blue waves that carried her people home. With fabric wrapped itself close to her body, almost tangling between her legs. But she could not be tripped. The young woman had spent too much time growing up with her people's choice in fashion. She had spent too much time dancing on the white beaches of the Lagoons._

 _She was a bride to the stars. One that he would give away._

 _But it was alright. The star she chose will guide her and protect her. She will be safe. She will be happy and that's all he can ask for._

 _Zoro sighed, deep in thought. His hands rested against his swords, a habit he had formed long ago and would never be able to break. The swordsman turned his head back towards the woman with the turquoise hair. He cracked a smile when he saw his family dancing with her, showering adoration on the bride. Nami and Robin had the woman in their arms. Together, they made a familiar sight that Zoro had seen plenty of times. Only, now, they were no longer on the Sunny._

 _The woman's golden eyes caught his dark grey ones. A smile broke out on her face. Slipping from the females' arms, the young woman dashed to Zoro's side, clinging strongly onto his right arm. Her voice was light and airy. "You will dance with me, right? It is tradition."_

 _"Of course. Anything for you."_

 _"Oh thank you!" The woman hugged him, her turquoise hair flying about her as she clung to him. She pulled back, a bigger smile beaming on her face. His name slipped from her lips. Zoro jolted, not expecting that name coming from her. She merely smiled at him. "What?"_

 _"What did you call me?"_

"Zoro."

 _"Stop calling me that."_

"Zoro, wake up."

"Stop," he murmured as he pushed away the woman with the golden eyes. The turquoise woman merely stared at him, her golden orbs piercing into his soul. Gold overwhelmed him, dragging him down into the shining sea of wealth. Slowly, the turquoise hair grew bluer, losing the greenish tint to the lovely hair. The woman's pearls disappeared, leaving undecorated light blue hair in the aftermath of his coming to. He paused, recognizing the woman in front of him. "Seraphina?"

She gave him a smile. "Are you alright? I had thought you took too much."

"N— yeah," Zoro sat up from his spot on the ground. When had he fallen over? "I'm fine."

"Alright then," the bluenette hesitantly pulled herself away from the man. He looked a lot more startled than he should have for his first time. "If you feel anything… off, just come to me."

Zoro nodded, his right hand rubbing the unease from his eyes. A thought passed through his head. What had the others dreamed of? "Hey, Sera?"

"Yes?"

"What did you dream of?"

A small smile formed on her face. And with that, he knew he would not get an answer. Her golden orbs darkened, and the light from her eyes began to close themselves off. It was so different from the eyes he had seen from the dancing woman before. She turned her body away from him and began to make her way towards everyone else. And just like how his dream started, he was alone.

* * *

"Damn it, Luffy!" Sanji groaned as his headache began to worsen. "You ate all the food, didn't you?"

"No!" Luffy straightened out his lips as his eyes began to wander from Sanji's harsh gaze. His expression faltered as Sanji kept glaring at the starving captain. His lips pulled themselves into a pout.

"Hey, what's that on your face?" Seraphina's voice drifted over to their ears.

Luffy's eyes widened in fear; his hands flinging up to cover his guiltily face from Sanji's piercing eyes. Sanji flung up his leg, hooking the hiding captain and flinging the poor boy into the hard, wooden walls of the Merry.

"Sanji! Watch the ship!" Usopp turned back from his fishing to face Sanji, his mouth stuffed with bread.

Seraphina's eyes widened at the sight of bread crumbs falling out of his mouth and onto his overalls. She had expected Luffy to raid the pantry, but not Usopp. The bluenette stalked over to the three fishers, noticing the way they had begun to quiver at the sight of her widened eyes. As Sanji was continuing to argue to Nami for a refrigerator with a lock, Seraphina's fingers found their way into Usopp's curly hair and Chopper's fur. She leaned in close between them, making sure that Karoo could hear her as well. "I did wonder how Luffy had managed to get himself past our traps."

As her gaze flitted over Chopper's head, the small doctor couldn't help but crack under the pressure. "He promised that he wouldn't eat everything!"

"Chopper!" Usopp hissed at his comrade.

"It wasn't my fault, Phinie!" Chopper clung to her arm as he began to tear up. "Usopp said that it would be fine! I just wanted a snack!"

"Chopper!"

"Oh don't 'Chopper!' him!" Seraphina snapped at the mechanic. Her heart had grown too soft for the little reindeer. "You were the one in charge of watching Luffy! You know how he is! You shouldn't be condoning him!"

Usopp pouted in a similar fashion to Luffy as he was being admonished by the bluenette. Mumbling something under his breath about favoritism, he turned himself back to fishing once the bluenette was finished. But almost immediately after, his attention was brought to a shouting Luffy.

"It's just steam, Luffy! Calm down!" A Nami in a pissy mood shouted back.

"Phinie?" Chopper pulled at the said woman's sleeves. "How is there steam on the ocean?"

"Well, either there's an underwater volcano or that part of the ocean is so hot it's boiling." Seraphina caught Usopp's and Chopper's panicked looks and immediately started retracting her statements. "B— but we're in the first half of the Grand Line, so it's because there's an underwater volcano."

"It's perfectly safe to travel through the steam," Nami added. "It'll just smell terrible as we're passing through."

"Ew!" Usopp said as he recast a fishing line. "Can we go around it then?"

Seraphina rolled her eyes. "There's no need."

She headed back inside the kitchen with her bluenette twin. The two sat down at the kitchen table, flicking away food as they stared at the back of the blond scavenging the empty storage room. Staring at the sad image of Sanji trying to scrap around for a few ingredients, the girls turned their attention to themselves.

"Do you think your people will send anyone?"

"Definitely," Seraphina turned her head towards the bluenette. "Alabasta is one of our biggest buyers. Even if we weren't allies, we'd still need you guys to not be killing each other. Our biggest worry is who they'll send."

"They better not send a Banshee."

"Oh god," Seraphina rolled her eyes. "They're so annoying. If we get lucky, we'll get someone from the Fire-Tongue Tribe. They're hot-headed but they'll work with us."

Vivi nodded her head. Her father and she had lots of dealings with the Taipan family. Olive, a granddaughter of the Taipan matriarch, was even beginning to seem like a friend to Vivi. "I could work with Olive."

"Oh my god, it's been years since I've last seen anyone." Seraphina rested her head against the table, remembering all the friends she had left behind at the Cove. The Sea Foam Islands must have their panties in a twist after they realized that she wasn't even close to coming back. Well, they might get their wish if their plan of taking down Crocodile goes to shit. "Hopefully they don't send anyone old—"

"Ahh! We caught an okama!"

Sanji had poked his head out, giving Seraphina a questioning look. "Do you want to me to take care of it?"

"No," Seraphina sighed, watching a tired Vivi pick herself up and drag her to the door. "We'll take care of it. Just keep searching the storage room."

The two bluenettes stepped outside. Seraphina looked down next to Vivi, watching as a sopping wet man plopped himself down on the deck. His swan coat hung heavy on his skinny frame and his makeup was beginning to run. A laughing Luffy crouched down next to the man and asked if he had a devil fruit.

"Yes, that's why I couldn't swim," the man laughed. "I was so lucky to have grabbed a hold of that duck."

The two woman looked over to find a clearly shaken Karoo shivering on the deck floor. Poor thing.

"What kind of fruit do you have?" Usopp leaned in closer to the guy.

"Well," the man struck a pose, "why don't I show you?"

Usopp and Chopper cheered while Luffy bounced up and down. The trio bounced around and shouted in excitement as the man had begun a dramatic speech on friends and fruits that Seraphina hadn't bothered to pay attention to. If he hadn't eaten a devil fruit, she would have thrown him off the ship already. But whatever, Seraphina thought as she turned away from the crew. Luffy and the others were being entertained. At least now Luffy won't break something.

"Hey, Phinie!" Luffy shouted up at her. The woman tilted her head to get a look at the boy below. She rolled her eyes at Luffy dancing in the man's clothes. Why would she be impressed by— there were two Luffys! Seraphina's eyes widened and she slammed back into the railings overlooking the dancing Luffys. Her regular Luffy was clinging to the Luffy dressed in the man's clothing. "There's two of us!"

"I can see that, Luffy."

"And I can do more!" The man lightly slapped Usopp's face, then leaned down to touch Chopper's fur and Nami's cheek. Zoro batted away the man's hands before he could touch the swordsman. If the man had felt slighted, he showed no emotion except cheeriness. He twisted and spun away from Zoro, slapping his own face as he twirled. First, Usopp's face popped up, then Chopper's and Nami's. "I just have to touch your face and then I can mimic it!"

"Wow!" Someone had cheered.

"And look! I can even remember past faces!" The man scrolled through numerous faces. Some with wide heads and some with skinny. His ability was not what caught Seraphina's eyes. It was the eerily familiar face that had passed by that brought panic to Seraphina's mind. "Oh! That's my ship! I guess it's time for me to go!"

Seraphina turned her head towards Vivi, watching her face carefully. Shock was scrawled all over her face as the man declared something about friendship and hopped off their ship and onto the swan ship passing by. She patted Vivi's stunned cheek. "Vivi," she whispered, "what do you know of Mr. 1 or Mr. 2?"

"N-nothing," Vivi muttered back. "B— but they have our drawings. Surely, Mr. 1 or Mr. 2 would know what we look like?"

"Let's go, okama!" The strange man shouted out as he moved farther away from the Merry.

"Yes, sir! Mr. 2!" His crew shouted, giving a jolt to all the Straw-Hat members.

Vivi collapsed on the ground, hitting the hard wood floor with a strong thud. Her hands were still wrapped in Seraphina's gentle hands. Seraphina followed her to the floor, gently taking in the poor girl's frame. Seeing her father's face among the faces that Mr. 2 had was not a good sign to see, especially when they were still so far from her homeland. Who knows what that man could do? "Vivi."

"We need to come up with something to combat this and quick. The wind's pushing us faster." Zoro commanded, his eyes flitting to everyone that Mr. 2 had touched. "They're moving faster than us; they'll get to Alabasta first."

Seraphina nodded at Zoro's words. "We're lucky that we met him."

"Anyone have any ideas?" Zoro turned to the rest of the crew.

"Nami?" Seraphina looked at Nami.

"Yes?"

"How many days do we have left?"

Nami tapped her chin. "At the rate we're going, probably two days."

"Alright, someone debrief Sanji and try and come up with ideas over the next day," Seraphina leaned over the railing, her hands placed firmly on the wood. "These enemies are too unknown, even for me. The Grand Line is giving us a warm fucking welcome."

* * *

"Woah! Look at all those ships!"

"Luffy!" Seraphina shouted at the captain resting on the lamb figurehead. Her nails slid through the soft bandages that Chopper had so graciously given them for their plan. Usopp let out a squeak as she tightened his bandages. "Stop staring at the Baroque ships and get over here!"

"Luffy!" Usopp shouted, pulling his arm out of Seraphina's grasp and pointing out into the wide ocean. "Go get them!"

Luffy pushed back his imaginary sleeves and started stretching his arms back. Seraphina slapped her palm down on his forearm and whipped his body over to her. The barmaid slammed down the captain on a seat nearby Zoro, keeping a firm hand over his shoulder so he wouldn't wiggle out. A light slap to the back of his head had him settling down. She uncapped her marker and scribbled a quick "X" on his forearm. "Luffy, you don't need to get them. They're not worth our time. And Usopp, stop freaking out. You're going to be fine."

"Yeah, there's only eight of us." Sanji breathed out a puff of smoke, watching Seraphina struggle with tying a bandage on Luffy's arm. "It'll waste our energy."

"Maybe your energy," the swordsman muttered next to her, bringing a small smile to the woman's face. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she loved their banter.

"So," Sanji continued. He most definitely didn't hear Zoro. "Does this guy really look so much like us?"

"Dude!" Usopp threw a bundle of bandages at Sanji's head. "He looks EXACTLY the same!"

"GUYS!" Nami pulled everyone's attention to her. She was pointing ahead. All heads turned to find the sandy dunes of Alabasta staring back into their wide eyes. "Alabasta!"

"Alright guys," Luffy jumped out in the middle of the crew, sticking his left arm out for all to see. One by one the crew gathered together before entering Alabasta— just like how they gathered together before venturing into the Grand Line— and all stuck out their left arms to mimic Luffy. "Whatever happens from now on, this left arm is proof of our friendship. Now let's go!"

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